Gynandromorphy is a condition caused by an unequal distribution of sex determining chromosomes in early mitotic division. this can lead to a scenario where some of the cells in an organism are male and some are female. if this condition occurs early enough in embryonic development it is possible for an organism to be divided bilaterally into male and female halves. this condition is most often observed in insects but has also been seen in birds and crustaceans.
Gynandromorphic cardinal. image source http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/a-gynandromorph-cardinal-one-half-male-the-other-half-female/
This is really interesting! So this bird shown in the picture is hermaphroditic? Also, is one color suppose to represent the female and the other the male?
This is a really interesting phenomenon, and a great picture! I followed the link to your source for the picture, and it is not clear what the copyright/license status is for it. Can I make a suggestion, if you are up for it? This photo, or any of the others on that blog post, would make a great addition to the Gynandromorph article on Wikipedia, but in order to use it, we'd have to get the original creator ("Reader Brian Peer") to release it under a free license as described here. It might be fun to try. Let me know if you are interested and I can help.
It appears as though the gynandromorphy occurs with bilateral symmetry. I wonder if this has anything to do with the mechanisms of how and when the disorder occurs in development. Is gynandromorphy always bilaterally symmetrical or can it happen in other patterns in an organism? Also, I wonder if organisms with gynandromorphy have viable sexual reproduction organs and if they can reproduce. I plan on doing some research on this topic. It's extremely interesting! How did you find out about it?
The bird in this picture is not hermaphroditic as it does note have complete male and female reproductive organs. This bird most likely has one ovary on its female side and one testis on its male side giving it one half of both male and female systems. It is also most likely sterile, although that cannot be confirmed for this individual through a picture. The red and white halves are male and female respectively. Males cardinals have more vibrant coloration than females due to sexual selection which gives this individual its unique appearance.
Gynandromorphy does not always occur with bilateral symmetry and can occur in mosaic patterns depending entirely on when it occurs during development. This condition usually results in sterility but some fertile gynandromorphs have been observed.