For the first time, scientists have observed the wild hybrid offspring of a blue jay and a green jay during a study near San Antonio, Texas.
The hybrid bird is the product of two species whose habitat ranges began to overlap a few decades ago, according to a study published Sept. 10 in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
“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,” study co-authorBrian Stokes, an ecologist at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), said in a statement…