SREL Reprint #2063

Observations of agonistic and mutualistic interactions between birds and non-avian vertebrates on the E.S. George Reserve, Michigan

R.D. Nagle1, R.C. van Loben Sels2, and J.D. Congdon1

 1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802
2Red Mountain High School, 7301 East Brown Road, Mesa, Arizona 85207

Abstract: Only two interactions between birds and non-avian vertebrates, other than direct acts of predation and mobbing behaviors, were observed during an 18-year turtle study on the University of Michigan's E. S. George Reserve. The first involved a pair of Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) that attacked a Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor), and the second observation involved a White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) that appeared to solicit cleaning activities from a male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus).

Keywords: Blue Racer, Coluber constrictor, Catbird, Dumetalla carolinensis, cleaning behavior, interspecific encounter, mutualism, nest defense, Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus 

SREL Reprint #2063

Nagle, R.D., R.C. van Loben Sels, and J.D. Congdon. 1995. Observations of agonistic and mutualistic interactions between birds and non-avian vertebrates on the E.S. George Reserve, Michigan. Canadian Field Naturalist 109:464-466.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).