U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
June 2001
Abstract
We report nine new records of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) parasitism on the Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula): six from Benson County, North Dakota, and three from Delta Marsh, Manitoba. These observations represent 30% of the total number of records of parasitism on this host. Parasitism frequencies were 0.8% of 727 nests in North Dakota, and 4.0% of 75 nests in Manitoba. The data from Manitoba, combined with previous data from this location (Neudorf and Sealy 1994), yields a parasitism frequency of 3.4% of 119 nests examined. These parasitism frequencies are the highest recorded for the Common Grackle.
Comments
Published in Wilson Bull., 113(1), 2001, pp. 90–93.