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

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V081N5-6_217.pdf (687.33 KB)

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1981-09

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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.

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Author Institution: Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University ; Environmental Studies Center, Bowling Green State University

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The Ohio Journal of Science. v81, n5-6 (September-November, 1981), 217-225

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http://hdl.handle.net/1811/22802

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Ohio Journal of Science: Volume 81, Issue 5-6 (September-November, 1981)