Cross Breeds

Why is it that you cannot cross breed birds?

I have been wondering for a while...why can't you cross breed birds?dogs of different breeds can mate with each other with successful results.even cats,dogs and rabbits.why not birds?

Public Comments

1. because dogs are all dogs...there are different breeds of dogs but they are all dogs. birds are not quite the same. You can cross breed different types of doves or different types of finches or even different types of macaws, but trying to breed say a parakeet with a macaw would be like trying to breed a house cat with a lion. They may all be birds, just like cheetahs, house cats, bobcats, cougars and tigers are all felines, but they are different enough that they do not interbreed. Also, dogs, foxes, coyotes, and wolves are all canines, but they do not all interbreed. wolves are more closely related to dogs so they can, but foxes and coyotes do not, even though they are canines also.
2. you can cross breed some we once had a cross between a scaly breasted lorikeet and a rainbow lorikeet, but we couldnt breed it becuase it was known as a mutant bird it had an aqua coloured head and a scaly breasted chest and was quite small because of the genetic mix up
3. you can my neighbour has a princess parrot cross superb parrot it looks frigen awsome i have also heard about a cockatoo cross galah 4 sale in the trading post but i think the reason is they mostly want to keep to there own species but if u put a 2 diffeerent birds (opposite sex of cource) ruffly the same size liek grass parrot and a budgie then keep them isolated for a while and they will breed because it is an animals instinct to reproduce asmuch as possible thats why they are always having babies soon im going to try a scarlet grass parrot cross with budgie to see what it will come out like or a cockatiel cross princess parrot
4. Dogs of different breeds are still the same species while most birds are different species. Some closely related species can cross-breed such as some species of finches can cross breed with each other despite being different species. However species that are not genetically similar can't cross breed.
5. I have known some ppl to cross breed birds ,but that being said those off spring are hybrids and will be sterile . thus ending the breeding cycle . I am not saying that it is okay to do that to me no not okay I hate the idea of cross breeding birds and ruining the pure line of blood lines .
6. "cross breeding" dogs is not hybridization as they're all of one species (canis canis). with birds, it would be the same if you breed blue parakeet with yellow parakeet as they're still one species. Hybridization is possible and can produce fertile offsprings wish might then, soil the genetic pool of pure species birds. I am definitely against such a thing which, in my opinion, is not worth it and produce nothing interesting. For your information, canary is an hybrid of many species and, for my part, are not interesting birds.