Hybridization and Asymmetrical Introgression Between the Vulnerable Gray-Headed Chickadee and a More Abundant Congener, the Boreal Chickadee: Implications for Conservation

Matthew R Armstrong; Robert E Wilson; James A Johnson; Travis L Booms; Callie F Gesmundo; Zachary M Pohlen; Paul B Leonard; Sarah A Sonsthagen

doi:10.1002/ece3.71673

Hybridization and Asymmetrical Introgression Between the Vulnerable Gray-Headed Chickadee and a More Abundant Congener, the Boreal Chickadee: Implications for Conservation

Ecol Evol. 2025 Jun 26;15(7):e71673. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71673. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Authors

Matthew R Armstrong¹, Robert E Wilson^{1

2}, James A Johnson³, Travis L Booms⁴, Callie F Gesmundo³, Zachary M Pohlen³, Paul B Leonard⁵, Sarah A Sonsthagen⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Natural Resources University of Nebraska Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA.
² Nebraska State Museum University of Nebraska Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA.
³ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management Anchorage Alaska USA.
⁴ Alaska Department of Fish and Game Fairbanks Alaska USA.
⁵ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Fairbanks Alaska USA.
⁶ U.S. Geological Survey-Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources University of Nebraska Lincoln Lincoln Nebraska USA.

Abstract

Hybridization is a common process among bird species that can precipitate a mix of positive or negative species outcomes. Particularly for rare populations, detrimental effects of hybridization on demographic growth rates and genetic integrity are of serious concern. In Alaska and a small region of northwestern Canada, the endemic subspecies of Gray-headed Chickadee (Poecile cinctus lathami) has declined in recent decades from being locally common to being extremely rare. The more widespread Boreal Chickadee (P. hudsonicus) has become increasingly abundant in areas of sympatry. These changes in abundance may have led to hybridization between Gray-headed Chickadees and Boreal Chickadees. We used a series of analyses to test for signatures of introgression at mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA using historical museum samples of both species collected between 1875 and 1979 as well as contemporary Boreal Chickadee samples. In addition, we modeled Gray-headed Chickadee and Boreal Chickadee demographic histories to better understand patterns of effective population size changes and gene flow over time. Introgression of Gray-headed Chickadee nuclear DNA was detected in contemporary and historical Boreal Chickadee populations, and two first-generation hybrid backcrosses were observed in the historical Boreal Chickadee samples. Lack of mitochondrial DNA introgression or backcrossing into the Gray-headed Chickadee historical samples may be an artifact of mate scarcity during the period before local abundances of Boreal Chickadee exceeded Gray-headed Chickadees. Demographic modeling with nuclear loci estimated a low level of symmetric gene flow between Gray-headed Chickadees and Boreal Chickadees since the time of divergence. Our study suggests that hybridization may be linked to Gray-headed Chickadee declines and represents a case study of how museum collections can be used to infer introgression in a population too scarce to directly investigate.

Keywords: Poecile cinctus lathami; Poecile hudsonicus; interspecific hybridization; introgression; museomics.