wurmparty

[wurmparty]

Welcome to the first blog EVER on avian eye trematodes or, as I first called them when I didn’t know the name, “eye wurmz”. 

And why write about avian eye trematodes, or Philopthalmus sp.?

Cuz they’re weird, duh. But also because during some of my field work this past spring and summer sampling feral chickens (and handling some other non-native bycatch) I actually saw some of these parasites firsthand.  Imagine having a chicken in hand, holding their head back to take a blood sample with your face maybe 5 inches away, and then looking at the birds face to see a straight up WuRm pArTy festering in its eyes.  The above photo is a similarly infected Spotted Dove from my partner’s house in Honolulu.  Prior to capture, this particular bird was walking around on the kitchen counter. Yum! 

So far, I have observed these parasites in Feral chickens, Erkel’s Francolin and Spotted Doves in Hawaii (so far I have not yet seen them in any native species). I have also noted their presence in feral chickens in Key Largo, Florida.  

Following my initial fear, disgust, jealousy, and denial came curiosity.  What are these wurmz? Are they host-specific? What is their life cycle and how in the heckin’ heck do they get in those poor downtrodden bird’s eyes?  What taxa are they?  Are they more of a Taylor Swift or Katy Perry?  

Lucky for you, over the next couple months we’re going to answer some of those questions!  Stay tuned.