1. IS THE INGESTION OF SMALL STONES BY DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS A SELF-MEDICATION BEHAVIOR?
- Author
-
Robinson, Stacey A., Forbes, Mark R., and Hebert, Craig E.
- Subjects
- *
CORMORANTS , *PARASITISM , *INGESTION , *NEMATODES as carriers of disease , *SEA bird behavior , *CHI-squared test , *STATISTICAL correlation - Abstract
The article presents a study on the ingestion of small stones as self-medication behavior of double-crested cormorants. The study is conducted to examine the antiparasite function and to determine the relationship of the behavior to the sexes of cormorants from Lake Ontario Site and Lake Erie site. It presents the difference on the presence of small stone and the parasitism from both sites. It found out that the presence of small stones in cormorants protects them from the high levels of infection brought by Contacaecum spp. nematodes and that ingestion is capable of antiparasite function. Gonadal inspection, chi-square tests, and Spearman rank correlation are used in the study.
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF