Is that a blue jay? Is that the green one? Guess what, it’s both! Scientists have never encountered a spectacle quite like this, and they are scratching their heads to figure out how this creature came into being.
However, scientists have a theory, and they have pinpointed the territory expansion of green jays over the past decade. Once a regular appearance in South and Central America, Mexico, and some parts of southern Texas, they have expanded their territory northward. They have traversed over 100 miles and 2° of latitude— along Rio Grande and up toward San Antonio.
“We think it’s the first observed vertebrate that’s hybridized as a result of two species both expanding their ranges due, at least in part, to climate change,” said Brian Stokes, a doctoral student of biology at the University of Texas at Austin and first author of the study.
Bird enthusiasts took note of the green jays that ventured northwards, and Keitt, a professor of integrative biology at UT Austin, was on the heels of this adventurous lot. Stokes joined Keitt’s project and collected blood samples for genetic analysis.
The duo was on the lookout for green jay sightings when they encountered a post by a Facebook group called Texbirds in May 2023. A woman residing in San Antonio posted a picture of a jay. It was different from any other jay, harboring features of both blue and green variants. The animal kingdom is filled with marvels. A while back, Iberian harvester ant queens produced hybrid workers and an entirely different species of ants. No wonder this blue jay-green jay hybrid was going to stir up the scientific community in the same manner.
According to Stokes and Keitt, global warming and land development have blurred the boundaries between these two species of jays, bringing them closer. This led to a never-before-seen mating event between a tropical and a temperate bird, an ecological miracle.
Jays are similar to crows and ravens, and their brains work like clockwork. It turns out that these two scientists had their Carl Hanratty moment while trying to catch this avian version of Frank Abagnale: they had to try hard and make numerous attempts. They collected a blood sample for genetic tests and tagged the bird. The bird exhibited features of both the blue jay and the green jay. Despite not being closely related and separating from a common ancestor 7 million years ago, these two birds from different species brought a stunning being to life.
The bird had blue feathers on its back and tail, and was adorned with white spots on its wings. However, it lacked the spiky crown of a blue jay and had a spot over its eyes—both features akin to those of a green jay. The bird followed a flock of blue jays, making identical calls. It also produced rattling and clicking sounds similar to those of green jays.
Then, they analyzed the genome of this mystery bird, comparing its DNA to that of the blue jay, green jay, and other jay species. They concluded that this was the offspring of a male blue jay and a female green jay.
However, there’s a half-truth in the “never-before-seen” aspect. There was one case of this hybridization in the 1960s; however, both parents were in captivity, and their natural breeding grounds were separated by approximately 200 kilometers (120 miles). On the other hand, this bird is the result of mating in the wild. The hybrid from the 1960s can still be seen in a Texas museum collection, and it bears a striking resemblance to the modern hybrid.
Scientists believe that hybridization events arise from mistaken identity, where neither of the two birds involved in mating realizes that they are mating with a bird belonging to a different species. This is a common occurrence, but those birds are closely related to one another. Both green and blue jays favor long-term social bonds and are particularly choosy about their partners. They are quite intelligent and have no trouble distinguishing themselves from one another. There is, however, another side to the story. The breeding season might have ended, and this particular pair of panic-stricken birds chose to mate and call it a day. This can happen if they fail to find partners, and maintaining their composure in such a scenario becomes extremely challenging. That increases the chances of making mistakes, as speculated by Gavin M. Leighton, an associate professor of biology at Buffalo State University in Western New York.
This is a modern mistake, as the territories of blue jays and green jays have started to merge over the course of the last decade. Blue jays are typically found in the eastern United States and are now expanding their range westward. On the other hand, overnight temperatures in Texas are rising, making the area more habitable for the tropical green jay and providing the necessary climate conditions for their northward migration. These two bird species have converged at San Antonio, and voilà, we have a surprising hybrid.
Climate change has been bringing animals that underwent divergent evolution (different species arising from a common ancestor evolving in different environments, ecological niches, and competition) closer together. Without a doubt, this would have never been possible without the anthropogenic factors that led to widespread climate change.
What remains to be seen is how the two species interact with each other. It’s a classic Shakespearean “to do or not to do” situation: will the blue jay and green jay fight, or will they choose peace?
Global warming is a vice of the contemporary world. The Paris Agreement was endorsed or adopted by 195 countries to combat global warming and is a stark reminder of how the world united to address ozone depletion, as all countries pledged to adhere to the Montreal Protocol. Yet, this vice has some beautiful things to offer, albeit very little, and this spectacular bird is proof of that. Global warming has to end. We may eventually recover from the ill effects that this malice will leave upon us, but if global warming had a chance to put its best foot forward, it would undoubtedly include the display of this bird.
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