Alternatively, the bird was considered a hybrid, but the present state of knowledge of the dickcissel's relations makes this not very plausible; a number of species exist with which "Spiza" could conceivably produce hybrids, such as "Passerina", but the lack of even the slightest hint of blue structural colors in Townsend's specimen and it moreover being not different from a dickcissel in habitus makes the hybrid theory suspect. Regardless, Townsend observed the bird making vocalizations reminiscent more of an indigo bunting ("Passerina cyanea"), and by comparing mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences of the specimen with those of the dickcissel, the indigo bunting, and perhaps other "Passerina", the hybridization hypothesis should be far more easy to prove or reject than a color aberration. On the other hand, not enough is known on whether dickcissels pick up their characteristic vocalizations from conspecific males or whether they are innate, thus no firm conclusion regarding Townsend's observations has been made.