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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 109(2)

The prevalence and intensity of tick infestation in passerines from South Australia

Margot Oorebeek A and Sonia Kleindorfer A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: sonia.kleindorfer@flinders.edu.au

Emu 109(2) 121-125 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU08052
Submitted: 3 October 2008  Accepted: 2 February 2009   Published: 2 June 2009

Abstract

Ticks are a major vector of disease, so understanding their distribution, geographically and across hosts, is important for the study of evolutionary ecology. Numerous passerine species worldwide are infested with ticks, and both prevalence and intensity of ticks vary across host species. In bird studies, foraging height is commonly thought to explain the difference in prevalence and intensity of ticks, with ground-foraging birds having a greater chance of encountering a tick. In this study, we used phylogenetically independent contrasts to examine the prevalence and intensity of ticks on passerines in South Australia and the role of abundance, body size and host foraging height for differences in prevalence and intensity of ticks. We examined 1262 birds for ticks between April 2004 and December 2006 at five sites across South Australia. All the ticks we collected were immature life-stages of Ixodes hirsti. Of the mist-netted birds, 347 (27.5%) individuals were infested with an average of 2.8 ticks. Both prevalence and intensity of ticks varied significantly between host species. We found that body size was significantly correlated with tick prevalence, with larger hosts having higher tick prevalence. Abundance and mean foraging height did not explain the variance in prevalence or intensity of ticks.


Acknowledgments

We extend sincere thanks to the organisations that have funded this research including: Australian Research Council, South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage, Sir Mark Mitchell Foundation, Nature Foundation SA Inc., Holsworth Wildlife Research Fund, and Conservation Council of South Australia. All procedures followed the Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research (Flinders University) and were approved by the Animal Welfare Committee of Flinders University (permit E190).


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