More Hybrids!

[lofty karma]

Anyone who hunts birds in cotw would agree that hybrids are some of the most sought after and rarest trophies in the game, and when the last few species to be added lacked these amazing rares, I and many others were disappointed, so I decided to make this post to share some of the coolest and prettiest hybrids there are in hopes they will be added in the future

The photos above are of northern pintail x mallard and black grouse x western capercailie

[soft pelican]

Upland birds like the one you posted would be super cool to see, i wish the dusky grouse got one for example. I have barely gotten duck rares but hybrids and eclipses can be very cool so i’m for this. Good idea

[lofty karma]

Yeah, sadly upland bird hybrids are a lot rarer than waterfowl, but I was able to find a few cool ones

[lofty karma]

If you want to check out a few more cool pintail hybrids, look at this post I made a while ago about them: https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1360334799834972232

[honest crag]

Especially for mallards, gadwall, and pintail who could use new/more rares imo

[soft pelican]

Mallards definetly

[lofty karma]

Speaking of mallards, they are the first species I will be showing some potential new hybrids for! Mallards are probably the most common duck in the world, and as a result, can hybridize with almost everything so I have chosen a few of the best-fitting and coolest hybrids I could find, feel free to send any others you think would be cool to have in-game

Pictured above are, in clockwise order: mallard x red-crested pochard, mallard x pacific black duck, mallard x American black duck, and mallard x ring-necked duck

[lofty karma]

I found a couple more: mallard x common eider and mallard x ruddy shelduck

[grave gazelle]

Here’s 2 more:

Left: Mallard x Indian Spot-Bill

Right: Mallard x Eurasian Teal (which may be the inspiration for the Green Hybrid although I’m not sure)

[soft pelican]

The right hybrid looks very cool

[lofty karma]

Yeah the mallard x teal is already in the game

[hollow shadow]

It is?

[lofty karma]

I believe both of the hybrid teal in game are crossed with mallard

Another day, another species! Today we will look at wood duck hybrids! As always, feel free to post any more you can find!

Pictured above are, in clockwise order, wood duck x common shelduck, wood duck x hooded merganser, and wood duck x mallard

[honest crag]

Green Hybrid teal

[grave gazelle]

Still, that Spot-Bill would be good if we ever get a Southeast Asia map

[lofty karma]

Agreed

[lofty karma]

Today’s species is the gadwall! I hope you like these hybrids, and as always, feel free to share any more you can find

In clockwise order, the hybrids above are gadwall x green-winged teal, gadwall x northern shoveler, gadwall x mallard, and gadwall x falcated duck

[lofty karma]

I found a couple more! These are gadwall x Eurasian wigeon and gadwall x American wigeon

[lofty karma]

Today we’ll go way back in the history of cotw with the cinnamon teal! Some hybrids for this somewhat forgotten duck would be amazing and definitely would have me going back to Parque Fernando! Remember, if you find any more please post them!

Pictured above are: cinnamon teal x blue-winged teal and cinnamon teal x green-winged teal

I also found this: a cinnamon teal x northern shoveler, but I think if they ever add shovelers, it would be a better fit for them

[lofty karma]

Today we’re going to mix it up a bit with some dusky grouse hybrids! Pictured below is a dusky grouse x sharp-tailed grouse

I also found some reports of dusky grouse x ring-necked pheasant, but I wasn’t able to find any pictures, so if you can find some or any other hybrids, please post them!

[grim badge]

Northern pintail have cool hybrids
. Northern pintail x baikal teal
. Northern pintail x mallard
. Northern pintail x American wigeon
. Northern pintail x Eurasian wigeon
I agree EW needs to add new hybrids, they are the prettiest

[lofty karma]

Yeah! I included all these beautiful hybrids in my post about pintail before they were added, too bad we didn’t get any of them in-game

[grim badge]

I know, especially the wood duck ones you showed

[lofty karma]

Yeah the wood ducks are crazy

[soft pelican]

I though you guys was the same person because the colours are very similar in your profile pictures

[jovial dust]

We need more hybrid grouse and idk can ptarmigan hybridize?

[wide parrot]

There's only a few hybrids between grouse that we know of, this one is mega rare, hazel grouse x western capercaillie.

The second one is a hybrid spruce grouse x ruffed grouse

Number 3 is a sage grouse x sharp tailed grouse

Number 4 (as op has already posted) is apparently a dusky x sharp tailed grouse

Number 5 is a beautiful sharp tailed grouse x greater prairie chicken

Apparently rock and willow as well as dusky and sage grouse do occasionally interbreed, couldn't find much on the net.

And then there's of course the classic capercaillie x black grouse and I could imagine many species hybridizing who just don't meet in the wild like black grouse and caucasian grouse

[lofty karma]

While we are on the topic of hybrid grouse, today’s species is willow ptarmigan! There are no photos of these hybrids sadly, but I found this illustration of a willow ptarmigan x black grouse, and I know they can also hybridize with rock ptarmigan. Feel free to post any more hybrids you can find!

[lofty karma]

I apologize for the lack of hybrids yesterday, but we are back today with the ferruginous duck! As always feel free to post any more hybrids you can find

In clockwise order, pictured above are: ferruginous x red-crested pochard, ferruginous x Baer’s pochard, ferruginous x common pochard, and ferruginous x tufted duck

[lofty karma]

Recently I got a hybrid greylag in-game, so in light of that, today’s species is the greylag goose! As mentioned above, greylags already have a hybrid, but more definitely wouldn’t hurt! As always, please post any others you can find!

Pictured above are, in clockwise order: greylag x bar-headed goose, greylag x barnacle goose, and greylag x emperor goose

A bit of a bonus hybrid here: apparently greylags can hybridize with mute swan!

[lofty karma]

Today’s species is the tufted duck, the last duck that doesn’t already have a hybrid in-game(I couldn’t find any harlequin duck hybrids)! As always please share any more hybrids you can find

Pictured above are, in clockwise order: tufted duck x mallard, tufted duck x common pochard, and tufted duck x red-crested pochard

[wide parrot]

There's also greylag x swan goose, have seen that before

[lofty karma]

Yeah, that’s what a lot of domestic geese are

There’s a lot of variation but here is one of the more interesting ones I could find

[lofty karma]

Now for the final waterfowl species that doesn’t already have a hybrid in-game(magpie geese haven’t been known to hybridize)! Today’s species is the tundra bean goose! Remember to please share any other hybrids you can find!

Pictured above from left to right: tundra bean x pink-footed goose, and tundra bean x greater white-fronted goose

[dense coral]

Previously mentioned cinnamon teal and blue teal hybrid and snow goose and speckle belly hybrid

[lofty karma]

Today’s species is the snow goose! This is the only species they’ve added recently that does have a hybrid but I think they could benefit from more!

In clockwise order, pictured above are: snow goose x Brant, snow x barnacle goose, snow x bar-headed goose, and snow x greater white-fronted goose

[lofty karma]

I saw this really weird looking snow goose earlier this year, I don’t think it’s a hybrid but I thought I’d share it anyway, I haven’t been able to find pictures of anything else like it

[soft pelican]

Could be a piebald

[lofty karma]

Maybe, I was thinking maybe some weird blue morph mutation

[soft pelican]

Does not look blue to me

[honest crag]

Its either a blue morph or a younger individual that hasn't gotten the full color adult feathers yet

[lofty karma]

That’s kinda what I was thinking, either way, still a very cool goose! I also saw a leucistic greater white-fronted and cackling goose that same day

[lofty karma]

Continuing with our goose theme, today’s species is Canada goose! Remember, please post any other hybrids you can find

In clockwise order, above are: Canada x bar-headed goose, Canada x greater white-fronted goose, and Canada x barnacle goose

[jovial dust]

Some pics I've taken of a hybrid Canada Goose x Egyptian Goose at a wildlife park near where I live. The egyptian geese are captive, and there's a wild flock of canada geese that frequently visit their enclosure. This wouldn't make sense in cotw, but it still has some cool patterning which could be implemented somehow.

[wide parrot]

Looks like it's just really young but I'm not sure

[lofty karma]

I looked into it some more and it looks very similar to this snow x Ross’s goose

[silver tapir]

Mallard x pacific black duck (australian hybrid)

Northern pintail x green-winged teal (first two), green-winged x yellow-billed teal (second two), green-winged teal x mallard (last two) don't know if any of these are ingame or not

Mallard x mexican duck (first two), african black duck x mallard (second two)

[lofty karma]

Today’s species is the northern bobwhite! Currently their only rare is albino and also happens to be the rarest rare in the game, so I think they could definitely use a hybrid! As always, please feel free to share any more hybrids you can find!

Pictured above from left to right: bobwhite x scaled quail and bobwhite x california quail

Apparently they can also hybridize with gambel’s quail but I wasn’t able to find photos of one

[honest crag]

Here's a Bobwhite x Scaled quail cross

[silver tapir]

There are more captive hybrids but those two are pretty much the only wild ones that i can see online
The gambel's quail hybrid is sterile
According to wikipedia they can also hybridise with the mountain quail but it does not mention if that is a wild hybrid and there are no citations for that section so who knows if it's true

[lofty karma]

No species of the day today (quail hybrids are hard to find) but I did find an extra Canada goose hybrid, this is a Canada x domestic goose

[silver tapir]

More black grouse x western capercaillie!

Tried finding photos of the willow ptarmigan x black grouse but also couldnt find any LOL found more artworks though!

Willow ptarmigan x western capercaillie (von Wright brothers have gorgeous illustrations, these are all from a 1929 folio!)

Willow ptarmigan also hybridises with hazel grouse, spruce grouse, and rock ptarmigan but I am unable to find images or artwork of them
Same goes for western capercaillie x black-billed capercaillie
And with black grouse x ring-necked pheasant, black grouse x black-billed capercaillie and black grouse x siberian grouse
However there are images of black grouse x hazel grouse - embeds dont work hold on LOL

[lofty karma]

Wow those are amazing!

[lofty karma]

Today’s species was going to be the stubble quail, but they’ve never been reported to hybridize, so instead I thought I’d share some hybrids of their closest relatives! Please share any more you can find!

Pictured above is a Japanese x harlequin quail, but there are more hybrids I couldn’t find photos of like Japanese x common quail and possibly Japanese x blue-breasted quail

[wide parrot]

1. Is the greater prairie chicken x sharp tailed grouse hybrid.

2. Is the greater prairie chicken

3. Is the sharp tailed grouse

This is another very interesting prairie chicken x grouse

You can see the sharp pointed tail and the purple neck of the sharp tailed grouse as well as the "ears", the larger air sacks and the darker plumage from the prairie chicken

[lofty karma]

Very cool!

[lofty karma]

After a long absence, today’s species is the green-winged teal (the game splits them into green-winged and Eurasian teal but they are the same species)! Please post any more you can find!

Above in clockwise order are: green-winged x baikal teal, green-winged teal x Garganey, green-winged x blue-winged teal, and green-winged teal x American wigeon

[dense coral]

Same species in the sense that they look very similar or are the exact same species?

[lofty karma]

they are subspecies: anas crecca crecca and anas crecca carolinensis

[wide parrot]

This is actually controversial, there classing depends on what source you are, american green winged teals are often larger and have some different white plumage from the Eurasian teal

[dense coral]

Thats what I thought, I'm pretty sure the society of ornithology did genetic testing and showed they were distinct species but the american ornithology society classes them as the same species. (Could be wrong but thats what I've heard and read)

[lofty karma]

Yeah it is very controversial but I’ve mostly heard they are subspecies, we’ll see what happens in the future though

[lofty karma]

Today’s species is the Eurasian wigeon! This is the second-to-last species left in the game that I haven’t covered! They already have a hybrid but could definitely benefit from more! Please post any more you can find!

Pictured above in clockwise order are: Eurasian wigeon x northern shoveler, Eurasian wigeon x green-winged teal, Eurasian x chiloe wigeon, and Eurasian x American wigeon

[lofty karma]

Today’s species is the common goldeneye, the final species in the game that can hybridize that I haven’t covered, I did include a few Barrow’s goldeneye hybrids because in the game they just call them goldeneye and don’t specify and I thought they were too cool to omit! As always, please post any more hybrids you can find!

Pictured above in clockwise order are: common goldeneye x Smew, Barrow’s goldeneye x bufflehead, common x barrow’s goldeneye, and Barrow’s goldeneye x hooded merganser

[lofty karma]

I forgot to post this yesterday, a Eurasian wigeon x mallard, they are already in the game but they look pretty different from how they do irl so I thought I’d share!

[hollow shadow]

They're just listed as Goldeneye, but they do provide a scientific name. It's Bucephala clangula in game, which means we have the Common Goldeneye in game.

[lofty karma]

Yeah that’s what I figured cause that’s what they look like, but idk why they don’t specify with their common name

[honest crag]

I mean they did it with the caribou until recently

Probably just waiting for a Barrow's GoldenEye addition

[lofty karma]

What confuses me is the fact that they keep splitting subspecies like the caribou but then lump species like with the goldeneye

[wide parrot]

I don't think they do, the goldeneye in game is obviously a common goldeneye, especially if you look at the Codex it says B. Clangula so it's a common.

Im German it also has the name of the common goldeneye

[lofty karma]

Yes, it is clearly a common goldeneye but still, a simple rename would solve the issue

[grave gazelle]

To be fair, there aren’t any Goldeneye on the maps where Barrows Goldeneye could be a possible species. Really the only 2 maps they could reasonably go on is Yukon and Layton, possibly Askiy if you really want to stretch it.

[wide parrot]

Found this really cool black grouse x caper in my schools taxidermy collection, really nice to see it besides a black grouse and a capercaillie for comparison

[lofty karma]

That’s really cool!

[lofty karma]

Seeing as the new map is likely set in Scotland, the red grouse will almost certainly be on the map, but red grouse are already in the game in the form of the red plumage type willow ptarmigan, to solve this issue, I propose that the red willow ptarmigan be replaced for a hybrid, specifically willow ptarmigan x black grouse as this would add another amazing hybrid to the game as well as keeping the red grouse unique to the new map

[lofty karma]

I just found a different illustration of willow ptarmigan x black grouse! Please EW, replace the red willow ptarmigan with this amazing hybrid!

[lofty karma]

I just found out apparently dusky and sooty grouse can hybridize! These hybrids look awesome and would be amazing to have in the game!

[wide parrot]

Ngl they are cool but one of the least impressive bird hybrids, black duck x mallard might be even more boring.

[lofty karma]

I can’t believe I completely forgot about pheasants when I first made this post! I thought I’d share a few very cool ring-necked pheasant hybrids that could be added in the future, if you find any more please share them here!

In clockwise order above are: ring-necked x green pheasant, ring-necked pheasant x domestic chicken, ring-necked x golden pheasant, and ring-necked x reeve’s pheasant

[hollow shadow]

I didn't know Pheasants could hybridize with Chickens.