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Is this a hybrid Blue-gray × Palm Tanager (Thraupis episcopus × palmarum),
or is it merely an aberrant plumaged Palm Tanager? This bird was killed
by a cat at Maracas Valley, Trinidad, 1 May 2000, and salvaged as a
specimen (prepared by Andrew Kratter; deposited in Florida Museum of
Natural History). Compare with specimen photos below of typical
Blue-gray Tanagers (upper left), Palm Tanagers (lower left), and
possible hybrid Palm × Blue-gray Tanagers (right; found within Palm
Tanager specimen trays) in American Museum of Natural History. Photos ©
by Floyd Hayes. Putative hybrids between these two taxa, including a
color photograph, have been reported from Trinidad in the literature. A
small proportion of captured Palm Tanagers in Trinidad have a few
distinctly blue-tinged feathers. A morphometric and genetic analysis
should eventually resolve the question.
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