Hybrids, Hybrids, Everywhere!

Dr. Christopher Clark, David Rankin (from University of California Riverside) and I collaborated on a scientific journal article "Banding data show hummingbirds have high rates of hybridization" which was published in the October issue of Ornithology (Volume 139, 2021, pp. 1-9 https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukab067).

In the paper we evaluated nearly 1 million bird banding records between 2006 and 2019 for hummingbird hybridizations. We found that the rate of hybridization is roughly 1 in 1,000 birds where multiple species breed in sympatry.

Nearly all hybrids are from the western United States and Canada. 437 hybrid hummingbird records from 2006 to 2019 are displayed. Hybrid zones for Allen's × Rufous in Oregon and northern California as well as Black-chinned × Ruby-throated in Oklahoma were excluded from the analysis.