Rare half-male, half-female bird spotted at suburban Chicago preserve

Local researchers and bird-lovers were in awe this spring when they spotted a rare bird with both male and female characteristics at a nature preserve in suburban Barrington. The mysterious bird was a bobolink, and was identified as a bilateral gynandromorph: The bird’s body was divided down the middle, with one side having male characteristics, and the other side female. Luke Dahlberg, a conservation seed program manager with Citizens for Conservation and a longtime birder, first encountered…