Has anyone ever came across a hybrid species of gamebirds in your years of hunting? The reason I ask, is that this year while I was out hunting, I shot what I thought was a immature Ruffed grouse. However, when I dressed it, to my surprise, it was dark meat like that of the Franklin or Spruce grouse. To me, it didn’t appear to be a female Spruce grouse, as they typically will have a small pink band above their eyes. So it got me to thinking about possible cross breed birds.
I did a Google search and found a discussion that had came up back in 2016.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?131913-Do-Grouse-Cross-Breed This got me more interested and with further searching, I found that there have been cases of hybrid gamebird species discovered in the past.
https://allbirdsoftheworld.fandom.com/wiki/Gamebird_hybrids#Pheasant_and_Grouse_hybrids Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) and Spruce Grouse (Canachites canadensis), Dusky or Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and Sharp-tailed grouse (Pedioecetes phasianellus) at Osoyoos, British Columbia, 1906 (Dr. John W. Aldrich), now those are interesting cross breeds!
TC
