Rackelhuhn

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Rackelhahn ( Lyrurus tetrix × Tetrao urogallus )

As rackelhahn (or equivalent Rackelwild ) are hybrids between the black grouse and the Auerhuhn ( Lyrurus tetrix × Tetrao urogallus ), respectively. These sometimes occur in regions where both species often coexist. They are relatively rare, but under natural conditions they are the most common grouse hybrids. Due to their rarity, they have received and continues to be given special attention as game animals.

These are always birds that have emerged from a cross between black grouse and capercaillie. The most conspicuous are the roosters, while hens are probably less noticeable than hybrids because of their similarity to black hens. Due to the considerable difference in size, crossbreeds between capercaillie and black grouse do not occur under natural conditions and could only be brought about by restraining the hen and artificial insemination even in captivity. Rackel hens are only fertile to a very limited extent, but a second-generation hybrid - a rooster that emerged from a cross between a rackel rooster and a capercaillie - was detected in captivity.

Naming

The name "Rackelhuhn" was probably adopted from the Swedish Rackelhane . According to Abraham Gotthelf Kästner , who translated a description of this hybrid from Swedish in 1744, the name goes back to the word Rackla (German for clearing the throat , snoring, rattling). This relates to the vocal utterances, which are also known as "rackeln". They are made up of both black grouse and capercaillie sounds as well as a very peculiar, guttural sound sequence that is said to resemble pig grunts.

description

Male hybrids between black grouse and capercaillie stand between the two species in terms of appearance and size. The body length is given as 65-75 cm.

The head, front neck, chest and sometimes the front back shimmer with a metallic red-violet to copper-red color on a black background. The throat plumage is elongated. The back, shoulder plumage and wing covers are brown-black with lighter scribbling. The wings are black-brown with rust-brown spots. The arm wings wear a whitish band and a white lace hem. White areas can also be found on the coverts and the bend of the wings. The tail is similar to that of the black grouse, but is less deeply cut and partly shows white seams. The bill is blackish horn-colored, the iris brown. A hybrid of capercaillie and black grouse grown under artificial conditions did not differ significantly in appearance.

The body length of the hybrid hen is given as 55-60 cm. Breeding experiments showed that the hens always resembled those on the paternal side. Rackelhennen (black grouse × capercaillie) were similar to black grouse - with narrow transverse straps and without the reddish-brown color of the breast that is typical of capercaillies.

history

As early as 1744, the Rackelhane was described by GA von Rutenschiöld as a hybrid between black grouse and capercaillie, and it is also mentioned by Carl von Linné in 1758. A comprehensive description was provided by Adolf Bernhard Meyer in 1887. He also gives a first description of the hen from 1824, about whose appearance was previously only speculated.

literature

  • NH Höglund, J. Porkert: Experimental crossings between capercaillie and black grouse (Tetrao urogallus et Tetrao tetrix) , Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft, Vol. 35, No. 4, Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin 1989, pp. 221-234, doi : 10.1007 / BF02241660
  • Rackelhuhn (Tetrao hybridus) in Alfred Brehm: Brehms Thierleben. General knowledge of the animal kingdom, sixth volume, second section: birds, third volume: cattle birds, raven-winged birds, waders, tooth-beaks, sea-flyers, copepods, divers . Leipzig: Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, 1882, pp. 47–51.
  • Tetrao medius. The rackelhuhn in Anton Fritsch : Natural history of birds in Europe , Prague 1870, p. 289

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Höglund / Porkert (1989), p. 229, see literature.
  2. ↑ Höglund / Porkert (1989), pp. 222f and 231, see literature.
  3. ↑ Höglund / Porkert (1989), p. 223, see literature.
  4. ^ Note by the translator Abraham Gotthelf Kästner in the GA von Rutenschiöld: III. Report of a kind of forest bird called Rackelhanar by the shooters in Småland and Westgothland. , in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences treatises from the theory of nature, housekeeping and mechanics to the year 1744 , sixth volume, Hamburg / Leipzig 1744, pp. 173-175, ( digitized ).
  5. ↑ A. Brehm (1882), p. 50, see literature.
  6. ↑ a b c A. Brehm (1882), p. 49, see literature
  7. ↑ a b A. Fritsch (1870), see literature.
  8. ↑ a b c Höglund / Porkert (1989), p. 227f, see literature.
  9. ^ Höglund / Porkert (1989), p. 221.
  10. ^ GA von Rutenschiöld: III. Report of a kind of forest bird called Rackelhanar by the shooters in Småland and Westgothland. , in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences treatises from the theory of nature, housekeeping and mechanics to the year 1744 , sixth volume, Hamburg / Leipzig 1744, pp. 173-175, ( digitized ).

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