Successful Hybridization Between Non-Congeneric Parrots In A Small Introduced Population

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.