Using lice to identify cowbird hosts
Avian lice may link fledgling Brown-headed Cowbirds to the host species that raised them. Lice, if host-specific and transferred to nestling cowbirds, could serve to identify the principal host species raising cowbirds in a local area. This approach of trapping cowbird fledglings in a feeding flock, then collecting and identifying the lice they carry is economical. The alternative requires a team of people to locate large numbers of parasitized host nests. We trapped 250 cowbird fledglings during June-August 1994 on Patuxent Research Center, and from them we collected 426 lice identified as representing 6 genera and 12 species. We. also collected and identified 347 lice from 30 known host species that were mist-netted on our Center. The lice found on cowbird fledglings in this population can be linked to Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Common Yellowthroat, Rufous-sided Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Song Sparrow, Field Sparrow, and Tree sparrow, based on this study and also on published reports.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 1995 |
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Title | Using lice to identify cowbird hosts |
Authors | D.C. Hahn, P.C. Osenton, R.W. Price |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America |
Index ID | 5223684 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |