Cage Birds MULES AND HYBRIDS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30630, 22 December 1964, Page 20

Cage Birds MULES AND HYBRIDS

('Specially written for “The Press" by

J. H. D. MILLER)

The study of birds has been an interest of man from the earliest times. Groups gathered together in villages to study bird life; and the passing centuries have seen a steady growth in the hobby. Many new breeds have been evolved, interesting a wider and wider range of people, until aviculture has become one of the three most popular hobbies of man. Many factors have contributed —the varied colours of plumage, the attractive song, the fascinating ways of so many birds. It is therefore natural that man, in his never-ending quest for the new and unusual, should try to produce rare and hitherto unknown crosses and challenge nature in successfully achieving them. A “mule” is a cross between any British bird and the domestic canary. The goldfinch is the most popular for breeding because it transmits to its progeny a rich colouration and the blended song of the parents. The greenfinch and redpoll have also been successfully crossed though the resulting mules are more drab in colour. So far, the handsome chaffinch and colourful yellowhammer, which should produce a very pretty mule, have failed to produce fertile eggs; but continuing efforts are being made to overcome the problem. Controversial Crosses Hybrids are in a quite different category, being the result of crossing two different British species. In Britain there has been very keen competition to produce new crosses, and the cult of mules and hybrids has become a most important branch of aviculture.

Many controversies have raged over the authenticity of some reputed crosses. Many years ago a noted scientist wagered £lOOO that, because of differences in physical make-up, feeding habits, and so on, a chaffinch could not successfully produce young with another species. I do not know whether he ever had to pay out: but he certainly lost his bet. These crosses have been obtained in Britain and also in New Zealand.

In Lower Hutt, Auckland and Dunedin, the chaffinch and greenfinch have been successfully mated. Redpolls

and goldfinches have also been successfully crossed with the chaffinch, and there is still a wide field yet to conquer. Ultimately we shall succeed with the chaffinchcanary and other crosses. My chief interest in birds has always been the mule and hybrid section. The main objectives of the mule breeder is the light mule. In a recent article I discussed many of the beautiful albinos which appear from time to time in the native state. Light mules bred in captivity are no less interesting.

Mystery Of Albinism

Albinism is an abnormality found in some birds and is due to natural causes of skin and feather and not to seasonal changes of snow, ice, or other weather factors. So far no satisfactory explanation of these variations has been found. Some white albinos revert to their natural colour in succeeding moults. Some experts believe that these light mules, which have pink eyes, are due to a cinnamon gene lying inherent in the blood. The breeder’s difficulty is to fix in the canary the facility to cope with the naturally dominant blood of the British bird which has an established dark pigmentation. This is also accentuated by the fact that the canary was originally a greenpigmented bird. I have successfully reared many light mules and support the cinnamon theory. Some years ago I produced a “four-pointer” mule—one with four dark marks, a dark ring round each eyelid, and two small dark tips on each wing —which is considered to be more desirable than the “all clear” variety. An English visitor, an authority, informed me that he had never seen such an outstanding mule even in the great British National Show in the Crystal Palace. This bird was unbeaten in competition for 13 years and in a New Zealand national display was adjudged best bird in the show from nearly 1000 entries covering the various breeds of canaries and foreign and British birds.

Unfortunately it was killed accidentally before its time. We look forward expectantly to the day when the successful mating of the chaffinch and yellowhammer with the canary will be announced.