Tick Infestations and Their Consequences for Migratory Songbirds During Spring Stopover

<p>Migratory birds face a number of challenges during their seasonal movement from tropical/sub-tropical Central and South America to more temperate North America. Maintaining health during migration is of particular concern. This study seeks to understand how haematophageous ectoparasites, such as ticks (<em>Ixodida</em>), impact host body condition as they feed on passerines during migration. We hypothesized that foraging location would impact tick acquisition by migrants and that tick burdens during migration would negatively impact body condition. We surveyed 2,064 birds during spring 2009 and 2010 and found that 2.4% of the surveyed birds were infested with one or more ticks (23 avian species). Ticks are more abundant in low vegetation and on the ground, but species-specific foraging niche did not predict the likelihood of obtaining ticks among migratory birds. Furthermore, birds without ticks were no more likely to be in better body condition than birds with ticks, though body condition tended to decrease with tick burden. Additionally, avian blood and feeding ticks were collected and analyzed via PCR for the presence of <em>Ehrlichia chaffeensis</em>, causative agent of the tickborne disease ehrlichiosis, to determine if ticks and their associated pathogens are capable of being transported to North America by way of migrating birds. We found that 27 (10.2%) of 252 blood samples were positive for <em>E. chaffeensis</em> and 109 (97.3%) of the 112 collected ticks were not native to North America.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biological Sciences

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Sellers, Johnny Michael, Jr.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Frank Moore
• Jodie Jawor
• Shahid Karim

• migratory birds
• haematophageous ectoparasites
• ticks
• migration
• Biology
• Ornithology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/245

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1257