Question on Senegal Subspecies

[Montys Mommy]

So I was told something interesting the other day. A the woman who is fostering the Timneh gray I rescued was looking at Monty, my senegal and saw that she had an orangeish belly, not all orange, but not all yellow either. She said I had a hybrid senegal, a hybrid between the orange belly (Poicephalus senegalus mesotypus) and the yellow belly (Poicephalus senegalus senegalus). I always just thought she was a orange belly senegal, and I guess I never realized that if two different subspecies bred it was considered a hybrid as well ? Her picture is my avatar, what do y'all think?

[Monica]

The orange doesn't look very intense (i.e. like a red orange), but it is very possible for your senny to be a hybrid... I wouldn't be surprised if many of the quakers and blue crowns and indian ringnecks were hybrids either! Or even suns at that!

[poi_lover]

I think the orange bellies do have some yellow in the feathers, but from the distance they look orange. Bo-Bo was sold as an orange bellied senegal and I paid more for him since he was an orange belly.

He squirmed a bit, but I finally got a good pic of his belly. You do see some yellow. You can also see his belly in my signature pic.

Does yours look like this? Bo-Bo's epaulets and sides are yellow, but the belly has different color feathers.

Also, I attached a pic Monica showed before. The orange bellied senegal is on the left. You can see some yellow in it's chest, but it's mostly orange.

[Montys Mommy]

This is her belly, sorry it's a little fuzzy because I had to take it with my camera phone, but the coloring's right.

[poi_lover]

It's kind of hard to tell. Yours does appear to have more yellow, but who knows?

When you got him were you told he was an orange-bellied senegal?

Oh...one other question...is the yellow area on his chest made up of totally yellow feathers or does each feather have orange with some yellow on it? I noticed Bo-Bo's chest feathers are orange with a tinge of yellow. But, he doesn't have any individual yellow feathers. Maybe that's a clue.

[Montys Mommy]

Montys feathers are the same as Bo bo's, some are yellow with a tinge of orange and others are just orange.
I guess I should have said I got her when I was working at PetsMart. They had a program called Special Needs birds, where they sold birds to associates below wholesale price if they were unfit to be sold (whether it be deformities or behavioral problems) to the general public. So who knows what she is, they just said senegal (they same thing happens at PM all the time with sunday conures coming in as sun conures). I didn't even know what her coloring was when I first got her b/c she was plucked almost bare save for a few down feathers.
I don't really care if she's a hybrid or not, i guess i just never thought of subspecies breeding as hybridization b/c you would think it's still a "senegal" it's not like a meyer X senegal cross, i guess you learn something new everyday!

[poi_lover]

She's a cutie either way! And lucky to find a great owner!

[Montys Mommy]

Thanks, she is a sweetie, a stinker, but sweet. your two are so cute I love Bo-Bo with the tooth brush, I've been meaning to ask, do they get along well together? I've always wanted a meyers and have been thinking about getting one in the next couple of years.

[poi_lover]

My meyer's has always had a dislike for other birds since she was a baby. When I visited her (before buying her) if they had another bird out, she loved to go after them as long as they were her size or smaller. When I was visiting one time, one employee had her and another was holding a green cheek conure. She was trying her darndest to get the poor thing! Walking by the huge budgie tank would also prompt bullying behavior. Stinker!

When I got Bo-Bo, it was the same way. He loves her, but she isn't going for it. They have been together (by accident) before and it turns into a beak battle. I think it is more because my Meyer's is a little afraid of him when he gets close. They talk back and forth and bob heads at each other, but once he is near, she gets fearful and goes into attack mode.

It just depends on the bird, I guess. I am hoping one day she will get over the fear and they can get along. They've got a long time to work on it!

[Montys Mommy]

Yep, that's how it is with Monty, she'll go after my smaller birds, but is wary of going near the larger ones, especially since, I think, Keona, my ekkie would put her in her place.