Taxonomic Inventory of Endoparasitism in Passerine Birds from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Faulkner, Charles; Faulkner, Vina

Report to Discover Life in America on a study of internal parasites of park songbirds through analysis of fecal samples. The high elevation (>5000 feet) of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) is a unique environment for studying ecologic relationships between avian hosts and factors influential for parasite transmission. Fecal samples (n=160) representing 24 species of passerine birds were examined for parasitic infection in conjunction with the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) project conducted in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park during the 2007 banding season. The overall all prevalence of infection for the 2007 samples was 12.5%. Diagnostic stages of parasitic species included: coccidia oocysts from Eimeria sp., Isospora sp., nematode eggs from Syngamus sp., and Capillaria sp., and cestode eggs from the family Hymenolepididae. The results of the 2007 effort have been combined with host-parasite data collected since 2003 (656 total samples, representing 575 individual birds of 40 different species) in an effort to examine the effects of bird foraging habitat, diet, and migratory behavior on patterns of parasitic infection in the GSMNP host population. Birds were analyzed according to their dietary preferences as insect-eaters or seed/fruit/berry eaters, and residential status as neotropical migrants or resident/short distance migrants. We found that parasitic infections were nearly 2 times more likely in older birds (vs younger 1st season birds), and in insect eating birds (vs fruit/seed eaters). The association of parasitic infection with increasing age of the host makes perfect biological sense with the cumulative risk and opportunities for successful transmission of infective parasite stages. Parasitic infection was not associated with the sex of the bird host or its migratory/resident status. Although it is tempting to suggest that increased demands of reproduction and mate attraction, or increased physical stress associated with long-distance migration may increase the risk parasitism by decreasing natural resistance and suppression of immunity, this belief is not supported by the present analysis.

Taxonomic Inventory of Endoparasitism in Passerine Birds from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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