Researchers have for the first time confirmed that a blue jay and a green jay have mated in the wild to produce a rare hybrid with mixed features. Spotted by a birder named Donna in her backyard in San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas, this hybrid may have resulted from the two jay species expanding to new areas, partly due to climate change, researchers say in a recent study. Lead author Brian Stokes, from the University of Texas at Austin, first encountered the bird in a grainy image posted online by the local birder. Suspecting it wasn’t a “normal” blue jay, Stokes and his colleague Timothy Keitt went over to Donna’s house at her invitation and managed to capture the bird. They drew a blood sample, attached a band to its leg for future identification, then released it. Seeing the bird in person, they felt confident it was a hybrid between a blue (Cyanocitta cristata) and green jay (Cyanocorax yncas), Stokes told Mongabay by email. The bird had a bluish body like a blue jay, but the black facial markings around its eyes were typical of green jays, he added. Genetic analysis of the bird’s blood sample confirmed their suspicion: it was indeed the first recorded blue-green-jay hybrid in the wild. The only other such hybrid known was produced in a Texan zoo in 1965. Historically, green jays have been a tropical species, ranging from the northern Andes through Central America into southern Texas. Blue jays, by contrast,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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