Rare Bird Rose-breasted Grosbeak shows male and female features, spotted in Pennsylvania

Rose-breasted grosbeaks are very commonly found birds during fall migration season in the Western part of Pennsylvania. However, there was a twist in the story when scientists discovered grosbeaks in PA which is both male and also female. The rare bird is male on one side and female on the other side. 

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How do Rose-breasted grosbeaks get their name?

Rose-breasted grosbeaks get their names from the male birds of the species. They have a ruby red triangle-shaped mark on their white chest and have dark black coloured wings. They have pink-coloured wing pits. The female grosbeaks are less showy and have no patches on their beige-coloured body. They have brown coloured wings and their wing pits are yellow.

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The rare bird that was found had both male and female plumage colors. Grosbeaks in PA usually do not have both plumage colors. This rare grosbeak caught the attention of the biologists from Powdermill Nature Reserve of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s environmental research centre in Rector, PA.

As per a report published in Hindustan Times, the biologists came across this bird while catching and branding the different species of birds for the Avian Research Center. This grosbeak had a split in the middle. It was pink on the right side and yellow on the left side. 

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This condition of the grosbeak is referred to as bilateral gynandromorphism. This means that the bird is both male and female. The bird has an ovary and one testis. How does this happen? This takes place when two sperms fertilise one single egg. The egg has two nuclei instead of one. As a result, the egg develops a chromosome from both sexes.

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The Avian Research Center in their 64 years of branding birds has spotted less than 10 bilateral gynandromorphs. These birds have left functional ovaries and as a result, they can lay eggs. The survival of these birds depends on whether the bird makes male mating sounds and gets attacked by other male competitors. 

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What is a gynandromorph?

A gynandromorph refers to any organism that possesses male and female features. This is commonly seen in insects. However, it is also found in birds, lobsters, snakes, and other animals.