Dietary Comparisons of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, and European Starlings in North-Central Ohio

Abstract

Stomach contents from 99 red-winged blackbirds, 97 brown-headed cowbirds, and 69 European starlings collected along the southern edge of Lake Erie in north-central Ohio were compared using aggregate volume measurments. Agricultural products comprised 73.9%, 54.8%, and 28.1% of the redwing, cowbird, and starling diets, respectively. Corn accounted for 70.8%, 26.2%, and 3.3% of the diets, respectively. Animal material represented 7.6%, 3.4%, and 30.3% of the diets, respectively. Injurious insects comprised 13-5% of the starling diet but were relatively unimportant in the diets of redwings and cowbirds. Beneficial arthropods were relatively unimportant in all the diets.