Do infections lead to higher feather mite loads in birds? A test with mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in House Finches (<i>Haemorhous mexicanus</i>)

Davis, Andrew K.; Cornelius, E. A.

doi:10.1525/auk.2013.13055

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…For P. citrea , older birds may have simply had a longer amount of time to acquire mites (and for mites to reproduce) than younger birds. These results are consistent with the previous studies of Barn Swallows (Blanco & Frías, ; Pap et al., ), but inconsistent with results of House Finches (Davis & Cornelius, ; Hamstra & Badyaev, ), further suggesting that species biology or ecological context are potentially important factors in explaining variation among feather mite studies. We found no difference in feather mite abundance between sexes (of P. citrea ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…This result can be justified because mites typically mature one egg at a time (Dubinin, ), and it may take time for mite populations to build up on young birds. However, Davis and Cornelius () found the opposite pattern, with younger House Finches ( Haemorhous mexicanus ) harboring more mites than adults. In addition, it is unknown how the interaction between ecological affiliation, age, and sex may influence feather mite abundance or feather mite impacts on host fitness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most previous work exploring this relationship has tested for correlations between mite abundance and current physiological condition. For example, correlations between feather mite abundance and host body mass and other body condition indices have led to inferences of both mutualism (Blanco & Frías, ; Lindström et al., ; Villa, Le Bohec, Koop, Proctor, & Clayton, ) and commensalism (Blanco, Tella, & Potti, ; Carleton & Proctor, ; Davis & Cornelius, ). Furthermore, previous studies typically have concentrated on how mite abundance can influence a single component of host current fitness (Dowling, Richardson, & Komdeur, ; Galván & Sanz, ; Galván et al., ), limiting the conclusions that can be drawn about the nature of the symbiosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feather mite abundance varies but symbiotic nature of mite‐host relationship does not differ between two ecologically dissimilar warblers

Matthews

Larkin

Raybuck

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Feather mites are obligatory ectosymbionts of birds that primarily feed on the oily secretions from the uropygial gland. Feather mite abundance varies within and among host species and has various effects on host condition and fitness, but there is little consensus on factors that drive variation of this symbiotic system. We tested hypotheses regarding how within‐species and among‐species traits explain variation in both (1) mite abundance and (2) relationships between mite abundance and host body condition and components of host fitness (reproductive performance and apparent annual survival). We focused on two closely related (Parulidae), but ecologically distinct, species: Setophaga cerulea (Cerulean Warbler), a canopy dwelling open‐cup nester, and Protonotaria citrea (Prothonotary Warbler), an understory dwelling, cavity nester. We predicted that feather mites would be more abundant on and have a more parasitic relationship with P. citrea, and within P. citrea, females and older individuals would harbor greater mite abundances. We captured, took body measurements, quantified feather mite abundance on individuals’ primaries and rectrices, and monitored individuals and their nests to estimate fitness. Feather mite abundance differed by species, but in the opposite direction of our prediction. There was no relationship between mite abundance and any measure of body condition or fitness for either species or sex (also contrary to our predictions). Our results suggest that species biology and ecological context may influence mite abundance on hosts. However, this pattern does not extend to differential effects of mites on measures of host body condition or fitness.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feather mite abundance varies but symbiotic nature of mite‐host relationship does not differ between two ecologically dissimilar warblers

Matthews

Larkin

Raybuck

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…1). Water retention was not influenced by whether finches were experimentally inoculated with sham media (control, open circles) or with the bacterial pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum (¼MG, closed circles) detected higher feather mite loads on freeliving House Finches with mycoplasmal conjunctivitis (Davis and Cornelius 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is unknown whether MG infection also influences other behaviors important for survival, such as preening to maintain feather quality. To date, direct effects of MG infection on feather maintenance have not been examined; however, a field study found higher ectoparasite loads on wild-caught House Finches with mycoplasmal conjunctivitis (Davis and Cornelius 2013), providing potential indirect support for the idea that MG infection alters preening behavior in ways relevant for ectoparasite control in finches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum Infection on Preening Behaviors and Feather Quality in House Finches (Haemorhous Mexicanus)

Alms,

Langager,

Weitzman

et al. 2023

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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Infections can have far-reaching sublethal effects on wildlife, including reduced maintenance of external structures. For many wildlife taxa, daily maintenance of external structures (termed preening in birds) is critical to fitness, but few studies have examined how infections alter such maintenance. Mycoplasma gallisepticum is a common pathogen in free-living House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), where it causes mycoplasmal conjunctivitis. Despite documented behavioral changes associated with M. gallisepticum infections in finches, no studies have examined how preening behavior may change with infection and how potential differences in preening may affect feather quality. To test this, we experimentally inoculated captive House Finches with M. gallisepticum or a control treatment, and we collected behavioral and feather quality data to detect potential changes in feather maintenance due to infection. We found that finches infected with M. gallisepticum preened significantly less often, and within the infected treatment, birds with the highest conjunctivitis severity preened the least often. However, there was no difference in the quality scores for secondary flight feathers collected from control versus infected birds. We also assayed feather water retention and found that the degree of water retention correlated with our feather quality scores, such that feathers with poor scores retained more water. However, as with quality scores, feather water retention did not differ with infection; this may be due to the controlled environment that the birds experienced while in captivity. Our data suggest that, in addition to sickness behaviors previously observed in finches, M. gallisepticum infection decreases other behaviors critical to survival, such as preening. While the consequences of reduced preening on feather maintenance were not apparent in captive conditions, further work is needed to determine whether House Finches in the wild that are infected with M. gallisepticum experience a fitness cost, such as increases in ectoparasite loads, due to this reduced feather maintenance.

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Patterns of feather mite (Acariformes: Astigmata) prevalence and load in a promiscuous bird during the breeding season

Wołoszkiewicz,

Dabert,

Kaźmierczak

et al. 2024

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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Do infections lead to higher feather mite loads in birds? A test with mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Cited by 5 publications

References 43 publications

Feather mite abundance varies but symbiotic nature of mite‐host relationship does not differ between two ecologically dissimilar warblers

Feather mite abundance varies but symbiotic nature of mite‐host relationship does not differ between two ecologically dissimilar warblers

Effects of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum Infection on Preening Behaviors and Feather Quality in House Finches (Haemorhous Mexicanus)

Patterns of feather mite (Acariformes: Astigmata) prevalence and load in a promiscuous bird during the breeding season

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