“A gynandromorph is an organism that contains both male and female characteristics. The term comes from the Greek γυνή (gynē) ‘female’, ἀνήρ (anēr) ‘male’, and μορφή (morphē) ‘form’, and is used mainly in the field of entomology. “
That’s the definition of gynandromorph from wikipedia and has been a topic of conversation once again this week.
Yes, I’ve had a similar conversation about gynandromorphism before. A few years back, I was out walking for roosters with my lab, Mika. It was the last day of the season and I had already shot a megarooster at the first spot I hunted. One of the biggest roosters I’ve shot, with a tail that could have been measured on a walleye bump board.
At our second stop, Mika was nosing her way into a willow thicket when I caught some movement. I saw a black and red head staring back at me through a small opening in the thicket’s branches. The rooster then darted towards the edge and flew out over the adjacent field. I pulled up and snapped off a shot and Mika quickly brought the bird back…pretty standard right? I remember looking at the pheasant and after shooting enough “young, dirty roosters” early in the season, my first thought was that it was a really late hatched bird. Strange considering this was the last day of the season.
I stopped one more time and shot my third bird of the day, another healthy rooster who gave my veteran lab a vigorous workout. She went about 500 yards chasing that bird down before catching it and retrieving it, kicking and clawing, all the way back. A good bird dog is worth it’s weight in gold in the pheasant world.
Once I got home, I laid the birds side by side and at first glance, two of the roosters seemed extra large. The smallish bird looked a little odd, but again, I didn’t spend too much time with it. I posted about it on Facebook and soon the comments started filtering in about it being a hen. After an email conversation with Jared Wiklund, the conclusion that it was a “hooster” was made.
Shortly after that, Jared came on the Sporting Journal Radio (Now named Fish Hunt Forever) podcast to talk about it and said that they get about one call a year with people asking about funny looking roosters that turn out to be gyandromorphs.
That bird went from a young rooster to a trophy and now resides permanently in our podcast studio for everyone to see and learn about.
After a very busy start to spring with trips to the Rainy River and the Niagara River, I finally had time to take the camera out for spring wildlife pictures and videos. The first night was so wild, I had to go back out a couple more times before the weather turned. We need the rain, but I (and the farmers) would have been ok with one or two more days before it started. I also have a turkey tag to fill and 40 mph winds aren’t helping.
I filmed an interesting interaction between two roosters and a hen. There has been a lot of courtship, sparring and other typical mating season behavior so initially I didn’t think much of it. In fact, I was focused on getting footage of the roosters so intently that I didn’t even notice that the hen looked a little odd. It wasn’t until I posted a reel on Instagram and Steve Oehlenschlager commented that the hen was a “hooster” that I realized I had captured something special. More pictures below.
Jared joined us again this week on Sporting Journal Radio to talk about it and a new “Minnesota Public Lands Chapter.”
The footage wasn’t the best and I didn’t have pictures, so now I had a mission. I wanted good pictures of the hooster, plus any other behavioral displays, such as sparring, mating and the courtship/herding tilt of the body and fanned-out tailfeathers roosters use to keep their hens close or interested.
After a few days with 3-4 hour trips with the camera, I finally saw the hooster once again and got some decent footage – still not as good as I’d hoped. But, you can at least see what it looks like and how it differs from both a hen and a rooster.
Since then, I’ve heard them called “rens” and “hensters.” I also read in a Pheasants Forever article that these are commonly mistaken as “hermaphrodites,” but, according to their article, there has never been a documented case in the pheasant world.
I captured almost everything I hoped to, including some bonus wildlife. From a group of wood ducks dumping in to feed – with one embarrassing face plant to a doe kicking out her yearling buck in anticipation of her new offspring coming soon.
I had also been trying to capture two roosters sparring and every time I see it, they’re obstructed somehow. I finally had two willing combatants start out in view and then proceed to fight behind tree branches for 3-4 minutes. So I got as much of it as possible, with focus going in and out and some of the best action blocked by branches.
Here’s one video:
And another:
I had blue-winged teal, wood ducks, mallards, canada geese, all sorts of other small birds, rabbits, deer and, of course, pheasants taking their turn in front of the cameras. The bonus wildlife was nice, but pheasants were the priority. Here are some more photos, including some of my favorites I’ve ever taken.
I’ve been asked if these are available for purchase and they are. There are a number of options to order, if you have questions, let me know. Just click on the picture to see more. Thanks!
This is my new favorite:
I took around 2,000 pictures and hours of video so I’m sure I’ll have more to load up. I’ll post here when I do.
Thanks!
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