# Can birds cross-breed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220 "2006-06-18T23:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/21 "2012-10-10T20:42:28Z")
nerz, missed the edit window. I mean, Bald Eagle or Congo African Grey Parrot would both be species? whereas BIRD is a class, is that right? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/22 "2012-10-10T20:43:06Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I keep feeling like I alllllllmost have it… > so, Bald Eagle would like what? A Lion, maybe. There are other species of big cats, including Tiger, Leopard, and Jaguar. The Puma is also in the cat family, and big, but it’s not that closely related to these other species. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/23 "2012-10-10T20:45:33Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I mean, Bald Eagle or Congo African Grey Parrot would both be species? Yes. > [@](#): > > whereas BIRD is a class, is that right? Yes. Eagles, parrots, hummingbirds, finches, ducks, and ostriches are all in the same Class. The Class Mammalia includes kangaroos, whales, wolves, horses, mice, and monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![BanzaiRun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@BanzaiRun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BanzaiRun)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/24 "2012-10-10T20:48:54Z")
Ok so the platypus comment was me being slightly facetious, but… Tigers and lions crossbreed (admittedly in captivity, it would be one helluva trip for a booty call) to give ligers and tiglons. So are they artificially inseminated as their courtships would surely differ? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/25 "2012-10-10T21:03:52Z")
> [@BanzaiRun](#): > > Tigers and lions crossbreed (admittedly in captivity, it would be one helluva trip for a booty call) to give ligers and tiglons. So are they artificially inseminated as their courtships would surely differ? No. They mate with each other in captivity because they don’t have any other options. They probably wouldn’t do so in the wild, even if they occurred in the same place. Many species of ducks hybridize in captivity, and even produce fertile offspring, but don’t do so in the wild because their courtship behavior differs. ---
**Author:** ![BanzaiRun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@BanzaiRun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BanzaiRun)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/26 "2012-10-10T21:08:40Z")
Ok, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/27 "2012-10-10T23:08:06Z")
For that matter, many humans will mate with partners in captivity whom they wouldn’t consider acceptable if free. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/28 "2012-10-11T00:58:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For that matter, many humans will mate with partners in captivity whom they wouldn’t consider acceptable if free. Hence, marriage. HEYO! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/29 "2012-10-11T07:26:44Z")
The feral pigeon populations I see in cities around here seem to be a mix of stock/rock doves and wood pigeons in fully integrated flocks - I’d be very surprised if they’re not interbreeding (it’s hard to tell because of the considerable variability in plumage of feral pigeons that exists anyway) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/30 "2012-10-11T09:18:44Z")
Ring neck doves have been known to cross with the rock dove in captivity. The domestic homing pigeon I believe is a rock dove. ---
**Author:** ![sidecar\_jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/31 "2012-10-11T14:13:50Z")
My grandma had a linnet/canary cross bred bird, it was quite popular in Victorian times as they sing well, but are described as mules as they are infertile (at lest that’s what she said) ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/32 "2012-10-11T16:59:20Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > For the same reason you can’t cross-breed with a baboon (I’m assuming). You mean because none of them will return my calls?☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/33 "2012-10-11T17:12:13Z")
> [@BanzaiRun](#): > > Tigers and lions crossbreed (admittedly in captivity, it would be one helluva trip for a booty call) to give ligers and tiglons. The real question is: Who would win in a fight between a lion and a tiger? If only someone could research this and provide some cites… ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/34 "2012-10-11T17:38:24Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > The real question is: Who would win in a fight between a lion and a tiger? > If only someone could research this and provide some cites… A double-damn hex on you if you get \*that \*thread restarted! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/35 "2012-10-11T17:51:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes. Eagles, parrots, hummingbirds, finches, ducks, and ostriches are all in the same Class. The Class Mammalia includes kangaroos, whales, wolves, horses, mice, and monkeys. One question that came to me after another poster mentioned fish as a class, are fish really a class? [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/qi/5514118/QI-quite-interesting-facts-about-fish.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/qi/5514118/QI-quite-interesting-facts-about-fish.html) > [@](#): > > There is no such thing as a fish. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Underwater Life (2005) > > What is a fish? > > No such thing as a fish? This really means that unlike mammals and birds, not all the creatures we call fish today descend from the same common ancestor. Or put another way, if we go back to most recent common ancestor of everything we now call fish (including the incredibly primitive lungfish and hagfish), we find that they also were the ancestor of all four-legged land vertebrates, which obviously aren’t fish at all. So, it’s a term to use with caution. After all, in the 16th century, seals, whales, crocodiles and hippos were called fish and cuttlefish, starfish, crayfish, jellyfish and shellfish still are. If that is the case, what is the correct way to call the scaly no eyelid finned critters? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/36 "2012-10-11T17:58:47Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > One question that came to me after another poster mentioned fish as a class, are fish really a class? [Fish is not a class, nor is bird.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_classes) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/37 "2012-10-11T18:05:18Z")
The class you’re looking for is Osteichthyes. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/38 "2012-10-11T18:05:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [Fish is not a class, nor is bird.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_classes) I suspected as much, but Colibri was answering in the affirmative for the birds, maybe he was referring to the Aves class in that case. (which means “birds” in English BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220/39 "2012-10-11T18:08:53Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I suspected as much, but Colibri was answering in the affirmative for the birds, maybe he was referring to the Aves class in that case. (which means “bird” in English BTW.) He was just using a colloquial term (I assume). It’s a little easier with birds. Most people realize jailbirds aren’t in class aves. The name fish gets applied to animals more often, such as hagfish and silverfish (the bug) which are in different classes. So using ‘bird’ for ‘aves’ isn’t going to confuse most people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birds-cross-breed/361220.md?page=1)