50 SoMMr•,Parasites ofthe European in Illinois [Jaa.Auk

PARASITES OF THE EUROPEAN STARLING IN ILLINOIS

BY JOSEPH B. SOMMER

S•CE the EuropeanStarling (Sturnusvulgaris) has establisheditself on the North American continent it has, as a result of several investigations concerningits economicstatus, aroused much interest because of its yearly increasein numbers. The Starling'shabits in mostcases seem to be "bene- ficial to man or of an economicallyneutral character" (Ka]mbach, 1931, p. 26). Tendenciesfor harm are "intensifiedby the 'flocking habits, as we]] as by a generalincrease in abundancein recentyears, and have led to insistent demands for curtailment in numbers." The gregarioushabit of the Starling is without questionthe greatest tendencyfor harm, and is responsiblefor damagedone to tree foliageand agriculturalcrops. Sincethey have establishedthemselves permanently in many parts of the United States,the food problemhas becomeacute for them duringthe winter months. Interestingobservations have beenmade by M. S. Ferguson(1932), concerningthe feedinghabits of the Starlingin Canadaduring the winter months. Ferguson'sreport indicatesthat Star- lingswill feed on almostany food scrapsand whenpractlcafly no foodis to be had, they will pick up non-foodpartic]es as may be foundon or around farm premises. The habit of frequentingvarious poultry yards in searchfor œoodraises a point of interest concerningthe possibilityof the Starling becominga carrier of avian parasitesfrom one domesticflock to another. In an at- tempt to investigatesuch a possibility,this study was made to determine the parasitesin the intestinal tract of the in several areas of Illinois. The investigationcovered the periodfrom September,1935, to January,1936, and the'intestinesand traeheaeof onehundred thirty-two Starlingswere examined. Of this number,fifty-one birds were hosts to one or moreparasites, all of whichwere found in the intestinaltract. Forty-five werehosts to Hymenolepisfarciminosa; three to t•habdometranullicollis (?) and three to Aeanthoeephala:Mediorhynchus grandis (Van Cleave). No evidenceof the presenceof the gapeworm( tracheae) so commonin poultry, was forthcoming. This is especiallyinteresting when comparedwith similarinvestigations carried on by E. A. Lewis (1926) in Europe. Dr. Lewisfound a thirty-five per cent infestationin the Starlings which he examined. In discussingthe possibilityof spreadingthe gape- worm from one locality to another, Dr. Lewis says that "Starlings are knownto migrateover wide areas,and data collectedregarding infestation of Starlingswith the gapeworm,show a high percentage;it is therefore Vol.1937 54'1J SOMMER,Parasites ofthe European Starling inIllinois 51 claimedthat Starlings,in particular,are moreimportant than the turkey as a meansof spreadingthe gapeworm."In a "Surveyof WelchHel- minthology,"Dr. Lewis(1927) reports that intestinalnematodes present in Starlingswere not very numerous,for he found only two species(Porto- caecumensicaudatum and Capillariaovopunctata). Since none of the nema- todesas reported in the Starlingsof Europewas found in the birdsexamined in this study,it may be that the avian nematodeshave not found a in the Starlingof this immediatearea. It is quite probable,however, that a more thoroughinvestigation might reveal evidenceof nematodeinfesta~ tion in this same area at some future date. Birds from six different Counties of the State were examined, with the largestnumber coming from De Witt County,as shownin the first table. Becauseof the largernumber coming from De Witt County,a comparative table will appearlater usingDe Witt as a basisfor comparison.

Number Number Per cent Counties parasifized non-parasitized parasifized Alexander ...... 1 1 Champaign...... 0 1 De Witt ...... 43 64 40.18 La Salle ...... 3 5 Marshall ...... 0 1 Woodford ...... 4 9

Total ...... 51 81 38.6

Had the investigationbeen carried on for an entire calendaryear and over a more extensivearea of the State, interestingobservations would, no doubt, have beenmade concerningthe seasonof the year whenparasite infestation would increase. Becauseof limiting this study to a period of five months,and to a small sectiononly of the State, it is obviousthat no definite conclusionscan be drawn from this survey. The following table showsthe infestation as arranged by months:

Number Number Per cent Month parasitized non-parasitized parasitized September(1935) ...... 10 11 47.6 October ...... 11 25 30.8 November ...... 16 23 41.02 December ...... 13 14 48.1 January (1936) ...... 2 8 20.0

For comparisonwith the above table, the followingfor De Witt County only is of especialinterest: 52 SoER, Parasitesofthe European Starling in Illinois [Jan.Auk

Number Number Per cent Month parasitized non-parasitized parasitized September(1935) ...... 7 4 63.63 October ...... 8 19 29.6 November ...... 15 23 39.47 December ...... 12 14 46.15 January (1936) ...... 1 7 12.5 Using De Witt County as the most representativecounty, it can be said (advisedly)that Septemberwas the month of greatestinfestatlon. From the table which summarizesthe total birds examinedby months,it seems that the percentagewas a trifle higherin Decemberthan in September, but as stated before, no definite conclusioncan be drawn from this table. The numberof parasitesper variedto the point that the hostwhich was most heavily parasitizedhad fifteen cestodes,while the oneswith the fewestnumber gave evidenceof only fragmentsof cestode. The average number of parasites per bird for the entire number examined was 1.14, while the averagenumber for the total of the parasitizedbirds only, was 2.96. A total of one hundred and fifty-one parasiteswas examined. The followingtable gives a summaryof the numberof parasitesper bird:

Number of Number of parasites birds fragments 3 I 19 2 10 3 7 4 4 5 2 6 0 7 1 8 2 9 0 10 0 11 1 12 0 13 1 14 0 15 1

In an investigationcarried on in 1909by t3. I-I. Ransom(1909, p. 114), five speclesof cestodescommon to North Americanbirds were found in the Starling. One of the five (Hymenolepisfarciminosa), was found to be most commonto the birds examinedin this survey by Dr. Ransom. It is alsoof interestto note that D. E. Salmon(1896, p. 32) reportedthe presenceof Hymenolepisfarciminalis in the Starling as early as 1896. Consideringthe fact that the Starling was first introduced into the Vol.1937 54]J SOMMER,Parasites ofthe European Starling inIllinois 53

United States in 1890 (Chapman, 1932, p. 429) and the fact that it so rapidly adapted itself to its new environment,one is lead to believefrom this investigationthat the rate of increaseof parasiteinfestation in the Starlingsof Illinois is not dangerouslygreat.

SUMMXaY 1. Becauseof the superficialnumber of birds examined,no definite conclusionsconcerning cestode and nematodeinfestation can be forth- coming,but evidenceat hand is a goodindication of what might be expected in the Starling. 2. The yearly increasein numbersof the Starling in Illinois will un- questionablycause future surveysto showvariation from the data collected in this investigation. 3. A more extensive survey which would be more representative of singleflocks, and more representativeof the variousregions of the State, would, without doubt, revealgreater variety and numbersof parasitesthan found in this survey. 4. The possibilityof the Starlingbecoming a menacein carryingcestodes and nematodcsto poultry flocksin Illinois is at presentnot very great.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishesto acknowledgethe valuable assistancegiven him by ProfessorLyell J. Thomas, Department of Zoology of the University of Illinois, in the direction of this investigation. Credit is due the following for contributing valuable aid in this survey: Dr. David H. Thompsonand his assistantsof the Illinois Natural History Survey; ProfessorH. J. Van Cleave and Mr. M. S. Ferguson,Department of Zoology of the University of Illinois.

LITERATURE CITED CHAPMAN,FRANK M. 1932. Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America, see p. 429. FERGVSON,M. S. 1932. The European Starling in Canada. University of Western Ontario, London. 1936. Notes on the relation of the European Starling to other speciesof birds. The Auk, vol. 53, pp. 87-88. KALMRAOtt,E. l•. 1931. The EuropeanStarling in the United States. U.S. Dept. Agric., Farmers' Bull., no. 1571, pp. 1-26. LEWIS, E. A. 1926. Starlingsas distributorsof gapes. Journ. tIelminthology, vol. 4, pp. 43-48. 1927. A survey of Welch helminthology. Journ. tIelminthology, vol. 5, pp. 121-132. 54 SOMMrR,Parasites ofthe European Starling in Illinois [Jan.Auk

MAYHEW,t{. L. 1925. Studies on the avian speciesof the cestodefamily Hymenolepididae. Illinois Biol. Monographs,vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-125. RANSOM,t{. I-I. 1909. The taenioid cestodesof North American birds. Univ. of Nebraska BulL, no. 100; Bull U.S. Nat. Mus., no. 69, pp. 1-141. SALMON•D. E. 1896. Tapewormsof poultry. Bull. U.S. Dept. Agric., no. 12, p. 32. 907 Knoxville Ave., Peoria, Illinois.