First sub-lingual oral fistula reported in a Swinhoe's Snipe Gallinago megala

摘要

Sub-lingual oral fistulas, in which a lesion develops on the floor of the mouth between the rami of the mandible through which the tongue may protrude, were first recorded by Castro & Taylor (2001) in Stitchbirds Notiomystis cincta, a forest passerine endemic to New Zealand. They reported the condition in birds from four locations; in all instances the tongue was reported protruding through the fistula. Low et al. (2007) found such fistulas in 9-10% of adult Stitchbirds, but in the majority of cases the tongue did not protrude. Sub-lingual oral fistulas were not recorded in nestling Stitchbirds. Subsequently, the conditions latter stage, where the tongue permanently protrudes through the fistula, has been reported in Sooty Terns Onychoprion fuscata (Reynolds et al 2009) and a Masked Booby Sula dactylatra (Hughes et al. 2013) on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, and in European Griffon Vultures Gypsfulvus (ábrego et al. 2007, Cami?a & Guerrero 2013) and Audouin's Gulls Ichthyaetus audouinii (Gre?o et al. 2017) in Spain. There are also a number of photographs posted on the internet showing examples of apparent oral fistulas with the tongue exposed, including in: Great Black-backed Gulls Larus marinus and a Grey Heron Ardea cinerea (Gutierrez 2015); Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus (Guernsey Gulls 2014); and a Western Jackdaw Coloeus monedula (Bovis 2018). Here, we report the occurrence of a sub-lingual oral fistula in a Scolopacid shorebird.