Successful hybridization between non‐congeneric parrots in a small introduced population

Abstract

Introduced organisms have to overcome several obstacles, including the scarcity of conspecific mates, before becoming successfully established. We recorded interspecific mating in non‐native areas (Spain) that involved Orange‐winged Amazons Amazona amazonica with three non‐congeneric parrot species: Scaly‐headed Parrot Pionus maximiliani, Rose‐ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri and Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus. Rather than mating with parakeets, a male Orange‐winged Amazon successfully bred with a female Scaly‐headed Parrot, raising hybrid offspring during five consecutive years and thus increasing the initial population size from five to 12 individuals in 9 years. Non‐congeneric hybridization seems to be extremely rare in wild parrots and, in this case, it may facilitate the successful establishment of a small introduced population in Tenerife, Spain.