Erickson, D.E., Mathiason, D., Alioto, N.A., Allen, O., Crocker, C., Miller, R.A., Nicoletti, F., & Radley, C. (2025). Oral Capillariasis in Sharp-Shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus) during Fall and Spring Migration. The Journal of Raptor Research, 59(2), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.3356/jrr2467
Our work on collecting capillaria data on Sharp-Shinned Hawks (SSHA) over the last 4 seasons just got published in a nicely written paper (led by Danny Erikson) in the Journal of Raptor Research! It was a great collaborative effort by many North American migration stations.
Daniel E. Erickson, David Mathiason, Nick A. Alioto, Olin Allen, Cyril Crocker, Robert A. Miller, Frank Nicoletti, Claude Radley
Author Affiliations –
Daniel E. Erickson,1,* David Mathiason,2 Nick A. Alioto,3 Olin Allen,4 Cyril Crocker,5 Robert A. Miller,6 Frank Nicoletti,7 Claude Radley8
1Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station, Cedar Grove, WI 53013 USA
2Braddock Bay Raptor Research, Greece, NY 14626 USA
3Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch, Mackinaw City, MI 49701 USA
4Cape May Raptor Banding Project, Cape May, NJ 08204 USA
5Hawk Cliff Raptor Banding Station, Stanley, ON Canada
6Intermountain Bird Observatory, Boise, ID 83725 USA
7Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Duluth, MN 55804 USA
8Holiday Beach Migration Observatory, Amherstburg, ON Canada
Abstract
Unusual oral lesions were documented in migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus) during spring migration in 2016 in New York, USA. The lesions were caused by Eucoleus dispar, a nematode common in the intestinal tracts of many raptor species but not in the oral cavity. We developed a formal data collection protocol and shared it with collaborating North American raptor banding stations to document this capillariasis (clinical parasitic infection by nematodes) in migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks. Using this protocol, we detected the infection at multiple banding stations at variable rates. We found that the infection rates were higher in females than males, and do not appear to impact individual mass. We aim to continue examining and monitoring raptors for lesions during raptor migration and to assess any potential impact oral capillariasis has on raptor populations.
https://meridian.allenpress.com/rapt/article/doi/10.3356/jrr2467/506654
