vp.nyt.com/video/2024/03/05/116159_1_06TB-HONEYCREEPER_wg_720p.mp4

Video from the site of the NYT 

 

 

Emily Anthes of the NYT reported a wonder on March 7.

 

Hamish Spencer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand on a bird-watching trip in Colombia noted a honeycreeper with unusual plumage:

 

its body on the left had the green coloration of a female of the species.  Its right is the iridescent blue of a male.  He documented this, with others of his colleagues, in The Journal of Field Ornithology in December 2023.

 

The condition, known as bilateral gynandromorphism, is as rare as snow in summer. 

 

It is not known how it comes about.  The internal characteristics of an animal of this kind is unknown.  While such birds have been known to mate successfully, this particular bird did not frequent birds of its kind and is a loner.

 

I post this because news of this kind makes me unaccountably happy.  Exultant.

 

How diverse, gorgeous, how lively, unexpected, mysterious, and how rare life.   

How breathtakingly beautiful. 

 

 

Bilaterally gynandromorphic Green Honeycreeper near Manizales, Colombia, 20 May 2022. (Photos J.M.) in the Journal of Field Ornithology, 12/2023