Songbirds as a Potential Vector for Snail Dispersal

For species with limited mobility, leveraging highly mobile species through animal transport can provide a mechanism for dispersal and range expansion. As such, migratory birds may serve as vectors to disperse mobility-limited species long distances to potentially novel geographies. To further document the potential use of migratory songbirds as vectors of animal transport for land snails, we provide two accounts of amber snails (Succinea sp.) attached to songbirds during post-breeding migration. Both accounts took place in southwest Louisiana; the first instance occurred on a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) and the second occurred on a Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis). Observations like these can improve our understanding of species interactions that may impact ecology, distributions, and life histories.