Ticks and tick-associated spotted fever group Rickettsia from birds in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon ¤ Garrapatas y su infección por Rickettsia del grupo de la fiebre manchada en aves del sudoeste de la Amazonía Brasileña Carrapatos e sua infeção por Rickettsia do grupo da febre maculosa em aves do sudoeste da Amazonia BrasileiraAbstract Background: South American birds are known to play a significant role in life cycles of various hard ticks, particularly within Amblyomma genus. However, the tick fauna from the Amazon region has been poorly studied, being limited to very few studies. Objective: To report tick infestations on wild birds captured in a region of the Amazon forest, Acre state, Brazil, and to evaluate rickettsial infection in these ticks. Methods: Wild birds were captured by mist-nets and examined for the presence of ticks, which were all collected and identified to species level by taxonomic keys and/or molecular methods. In addition, part of these ticks was individually tested by PCR targeting portions of three rickettsial genes (gltA, ompA, ompB). Results: Among 1,322 captured birds, ¤ To cite this article: Lima MA, Fernandes MT, Muñoz-Leal S, Guilherme E, Ogrzewalska M, Labruna MB. Ticks and tick-associated spotted fever group Rickettsia from birds in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Rev Colomb Cienc Pecu 2017; 31(1):26-35. Rev Colomb Cienc Pecu 2018; 31(1):26-35 Lima MA et al. Ticks and Rickettsia in Amazon birds 79 individuals (6.0%) were infested by one of the following ticks species: Amblyomma nodosum Neumann, 1899 (72 nymphs), Amblyomma longirostre (Koch, 1844; seven larvae, 13 nymphs), Amblyomma humerale Koch 1844 (four nymphs), Amblyomma geayi Neumann, 1899 (two larvae, two nymphs), and 421 larvae of Amblyomma spp Rickettsia sp strain NOD was detected in 3/26 A. nodosum, and Rickettsia amblyommatis in 5/8 A. longirostre and 1/2 A. geayi ticks tested. Conclusion: This is the first study about ticks parasitizing wild birds in Acre state, adding new host-parasite relationships, new tick species records (A. humerale and A. nodosum) and two rickettsial agents (R amblyommatis and Rickettsia sp strain NOD) for the first time in Acre.