First Documentation of Nematode Dispharynx sp. in Scaled Quail

Quail populations in the United States have been declining for several decades, and the role that parasites may be playing in this decline is not well understood. The goal of this study was to document novel parasites that inhabited the scaled quail, Callipepla squamata, of the Trans-Pecos ecoregion of Texas. To do this, quail were collected by hunter-harvest, night-netting, and funnel-trapping and were necropsied in the laboratory to determine the parasites they hosted. After analyzing 386 birds, we identified Dispharynx sp. in one of the samples. This specimen is the first to be officially documented in scaled quail.