Keywords
Mimus
ectoparasitism
marine iguanas
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Abstract
Hood Mockingbirds, endemic to the island of Española in the Galapagos Archipelago, have been observed to be more aggressive than has been typically reported. Well beyond the typical "service" of removing ectoparasites from marine iguanas or bits of their shedding skin, and even the pecking at wounds to drink blood as reported for mockingbirds in highly restricted parts of these islands, some individuals on this particular island continue pecking at the relatively insensitive tail tips of these large lizards until they have removed several centimeters of tissue.
References
Gill, F. 1994. "Ornithology." W.H. Freeman & Co: New York, NY.
Curry, R.; Anderson, D. 1987. "Interisland variation in blood drinking by Galapagos mockingbirds." The Auk, 103 (3): 517-521.
Christian, K. 1980. "Cleaning/feeding symbiosis between birds and reptiles of the Galapagos Islands: new observations of inter-island variability." The Auk, 97: 887-889.
Grant, P; Grant, N. 1979. "Breeding and feeding of Galapagos mockingbirds, Nesomimusparvulus." The Auk, 96: 723-736.
Bowman, R.; Billeb, S. 1965. "Blood-eating in a Galapagos finch." Living Bird, 4: 29-44.
Koster, F.; Koster, H. 1983. "Twelve days among the "˜vampire finches"™ of Wolf Island." Noticias de Galápagos, 38:4-10.
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