Ectoparasitos associados a aves de sub-bosque em diferentes graus de urbanização

Abstract

Throughout the world we can find a wide variety of ectoparasites associated with birds. Among the most common groups of ectoparasites are ticks, lice and feather mites. The diversity of ectoparasites can be influenced by a series of factors, classified as biological (susceptibility), physical (temperature, humidity) and behavioral (social and reproductive). Rates of ectoparasite infestations may vary and may change according to environmental conditions. The present study had as objective to analyze the prevalence of ectoparasites in birds captured in two areas with different degrees of urbanization, the Butantan Institute park and Serra da Cantareira State Park - Fattening Nucleus, as well as to make inferences about the relation of these results with the seasonality and reproductive season of the captured birds. The birds were captured with ornithological nets in the morning and afternoon periods. Sixty-five individuals belonging to 23 species of birds were captured, with the Passeriformes Order being the most representative with 22 species and one individual of the Order Apodiformes (Thalurania glaucops). Were collected and identified: one from the Insecta class, maltophages from the Order Phthiraptera, and three groups from the Acari subclass - thrombiculidae (Prostigmata), feather mites (Sarcoptiformes) and ticks (Ixodida). The highest prevalence among the species of birds captured was 64.70% in the Rufous Bellied-Thrush, Turdus rufiventris, a species with the highest number of captured individuals, of which 16 were parasitized by at least one ectoparasite group. The winter period had a prevalence of 77.7%, while in the spring the prevalence was 60%. In the Cantareira Park the birds had the highest prevalence (76.9%) of ectoparasites, while in the Butantan Institute the prevalence was lower (72%).