Harlequin or Catalina?

 

This subject often comes up on the mailing list like this:

"Siobhan, I'm a little confused.  In your pics, I noticed that Harley has a little red tuft above her beak.  At the local Rainforest Cafe, the Catalinas had this, but the Harlequin did not, so I assumed this was a good way to tell them apart.  But that wouldn't jibe with Harley.  So, then what IS the difference in coloration between a Catalina and a Harlequin (I know the difference in parentage). Was Rainforest Cafe wrong about what the birds were (had it backwards)? Is the tuft sometimes present on each type? What's the deal?"

Ahhh....'tis such a tangled web involving Catalinas and Harlequins. I will try to untangle it, so here goes: As for the red forehead, I have typically found that both the Catalina and the Harlequin can and usually do have those present. Here's a picture of Harley and a picture of a Catalina for comparison:

   

But notice the overall difference in coloration? The differences in coloration make sense when you consider the differences of red between the brighter Scarlet and the darker Greenwing. The Harlequin's coloring is largely influenced by it's Greenwing parent and thus is usually darker and deeper, while the Catalina is lighter and brighter like the Scarlet. (And just for interest's sake, I have attached a picture of a blue & gold that is believed to have been crossed with an unidentified hybrid just to show that hybridization can take some left turns, too):

In addition, somewhere along the line which parent is which can make a big difference, too, as well as how many generations are in the mix, as talked about in these two links:

http://www.petparrot.com/Harlequin.htm 

http://www.petparrot.com/Catalina.htm 

For those interested, I offer the few links I have found on Hybrid Macaws, in case you haven't seen them:

http://www.exoticbird.com/hybrid.html 

http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/information/hybrid.htm 

http://www.petparrots.com/hybrid.html 

http://www.petparrot.com/Macawpics.htm 

http://hometown.aol.com/thegash2000/pets.html

http://outonalimbaviaries.homestead.com/maccontinued.html

http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/harlequin.php 

http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/information/hybrid.htm 

http://www.camelot-macaws.com/Hybrid_Macaws.htm  

And other Hybrids on the web: 

http://www.eyeclopes.com/bird.html (a Scarlet/Greenwing cross, but looks like a Harlequin to me)

http://www.geocities.com/jimzim99/macaw.html (Rico - A darker Catalina looking like a Harlequin)

http://www.peac.org/gallery.html (Showing Corbin, miscellaneously listed as just a hybrid)

http://www.azstarnet.com/~labsal/parrots.htm (Casey, a "hybrid")

http://www.vin.com/PetCare/Articles/Birds/PCF02877.htm (Baby Doll, a hybrid)

http://hometown.aol.com/thegash2000/pets.html (Fred, a Catalina)

http://members.tripod.com/~Mary_Sajdak/Parrots.html (Doc)