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Tick Parasitism at Nesting Colonies of Blue-Footed Boobies in Peru and Galapagos ’

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Tick Parasitism at Nesting Colonies of Blue-Footed Boobies in Peru and Galapagos ’ SHORT COMMUNICATIONS The Condor88:242-244 0 The Cooper Ornithological Society 1986 TICK PARASITISM AT NESTING COLONIES OF BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIES IN PERU AND GALAPAGOS ’ DAVID CAMERON DUFFY AND MARIA JOSE CAMPOS DE DUFF+ CharlesDarwin ResearchStation, Isla Santa Cruz, Galbpagos,Ecuador Key words: Tick parasitism; Ixodoidea; Blue-footed that ticks on birds during daylight hours represented a Boobies;Sula nebouxi; Peru, Galdpagos. constantproportion of the total tick populations. Young boobieswere carefully searchedfor ticks by mov- INTRODUCTION ing or blowing aside contour and down feathers in order to examine the underlying skin. Feeding larval ticks, al- Nesting congregationsof animals provide reliable, dense though themselvesoften inconspicuous,were surrounded concentrationsof hostsfor parasites(Rothschild and Clay by inflamed areaswhich were relatively easy to see. Adult 1952). In seabird colonies,high densitiesof ectoparasites, ticks were larger than most nymphs and easier to count. especiallyticks (Ixodoidea), may lead to the death of young Only total numbers were recorded, since field identifica- birds and the desertion of nests or even whole colonies tion of life history stagesof the ticks would have been (reviewed by DuI@ 1983). time-consumingand we wished to avoid thermal stressto Different speciesof boobies and gannets(Sulidae) nest nestlingboobies. Exact countsofticks were made at Caleta at a wide variety of densities (Nelson 1978). Peruvian Iguana but, becauseof lack of time, less precise counts Boobies (Sula variegata) and Cape Gannets (Moms ca- were made at the other sites,using the following categories: pensis),with some of the highest nesting densities, can ~5; 6 to 10; 11 to 20; 21 to 50; 5 1 to 500; >500. Infre- supportvery large tick populations (DutTy 1983; pers. ob- quently recordedcategories were subsequentlymerged for serv.). We investigatedaspects of tick infestation on Blue- analysis. footed Boobies (S. nebouxi) which nest at variable, but Young boobies were weighed and their culmens and relatively low densities(Nelson 1978). We compared tick wing chords measured to the nearest mm as part of a densitiesin nests of sympatric Blue-footed and Peruvian growth study (Ricklefs et al. 1984). Since the number of boobies on an island off Peru and examined tick popu- ticks per bird might be related to size of their hosts, we lation intensity on nestling Blue-footed Boobies at three divided young boobies into three size-classesbased on sites in the Galapagos. We determined where ticks oc- wing length (Duf@ and Ricklefs 1981, Ricklefs et al. 1984): curred on the bodies of nestlingsof different ages,whether wing length: 20 to 80 mm (approximately 0 to 23 days); older nestlingshad more ticks, and iftick intensitiesvaried 80 to 200 mm (24 to 43 days); 200 to 500 mm (44 to 100 between colonies. days). METHODS At Caleta Iguana,we recordedwhere eachtick was found on young boobies. We recognizedfour body areas: 1) the On Isla Lobos de Tierra, 06”28’S, 80”5O’W, Peru, we com- ventral area under the wings; 2) belly from breast to the pared counts of the argasid tick (Ornithodoros amblus) tail, and the legs and feet; 3) the ventral surface of the (Clifford et al. 1980; Khalil and Hoogstraal 1981) from wings;4) the head, ventral surfaceof the neck, anterior to 0.5-liter scoop samples taken from material in ten Blue- the breast, and the remainder of the body. footed Booby nestsand five Peruvian Booby nestsduring Several different measurementsof tick populations are daylighthours between 24 and 27 February 1979 (cf. Dufi used in this paper: 1) mean abundance:number of ticks 1983). The nestswere in active use and situatedwell away per parasitizedhost; 2) relative abundance:mean number from any areasof apparent desertions.Only nymphal and of ticks per bird examined, 3) density: number of ticks per adult ticks were counted, since larvae were very small and unit of sample examined. mobile and easily overlooked (Duffv 1983). Voucher specimensof ticks were collected and sent to The three Gaiapagos study ‘sites-were Vincente Rota Dr. Harry Hoogstraal, United States Naval Medical Re- 00’%3’S, 91”39’W, Isla Isabela, visited on 25 July 1981; searchUnit 3, Cairo, Egypt, for speciesidentification. Caleta Iguana 00”57’S, 91”28’W, Isla Isabela, visited 27 July 1981; and Cabo Douglas 00”18’S, 9 1”4O’W, Isla Fer- RESULTS nandina. visited 26 July 1981. Visits were made between TICK (0. AMBLUS) DENSITIES ON 0900 and 1600. At the three Galhpagoscolonies, we count- LOBOS DE TIERRA ed ticks (0. yunken’; Keirans et al. 1984) on nestlings, since ten samples with 0.5-liter containers and random No ticks were found in 10 scoopsamples taken from nests searchingshowed no evidence of ticks in the substratum. of Blue-footed Boobies. In five samples from Peruvian Most ticks not attached to birds tended to be clumped in Booby nests,counts of adult ticks were 5, 7, 20, 1, 8 (.X= wood debris or in rock crevices (cf. Rice 1977), making 8.2; SD = 7.1). Tick densitieswere even higher where Pe- scoopsamples useless as population indices. We assumed ruvian Boobies were deserting nests (Dully 1983). Ticks could be seen on young Peruvian Boobies, even at nests where breeding appeared to be proceedingnormally, but no ticks were observed on young Blue-footed Boobies. ’ Received 4 March 1985. Final acceptance20 January 1986. TICK (0. YUNKERI) POPULATIONS IN * Present address:Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African RELATION TO AGE OF NESTLINGS Ornithology,University of Cape Town, Rondebosch7700, The relative abundanceofticks on 28 nestlingBlue-footed South Africa. Boobies at Caleta Iguana colony was significantly corre- 12421 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 243 WINGLENGTH mm TABLE 1. The percent distribution of ticks on different parts of the bodies of nestling Blue-footed Boobies in re- 20-80 80-200 200 - 500 lation to size of nestling, at Caleta Iguana, Isla Isabela, 15 Galapagos. Sm classes of boobies (wmg lengths) 40 to 80 to 200 to Body area 80 mm 200 mm 500 mm Under wing 50% 37% 32% Upper wing 12.5 40 41 L I n Belly, feet, and legs 12.5 13 17 Neck, head, and body 25 10 9 L-lNumber of ticks 16 30 65 Number of birds 12 12 4 10. most ticks were found on the dorsal and ventral wing surfaces,with the ventral neck area less important than 5 earlier (Table 1). The changein location was not statisti- cally significant(P > 0.05; x2 = 7.106; df = 6). A few ticks 1 were presenton the belly, but almost no ticks occurredon the feet or the rest of the body. I51 DISCUSSION Nests of Blue-footed Boobies were consistently warmer than those of Peruvian Boobies on Isla Lobos de Tierra, 10 1 becausePeruvian Boobies nested only on windswept flat areasand Blue-footedBoobies tended to nest in less-windy areas. However, the difference in temperature was rarely 5 more than 1°C (Dully unpubl.). Peruvian Boobies nested at densities of 2.1 nests mm2on Lobos de Tierra, but the I--I- densities of Blue-footed Boobies were less than 10% of I i I I I r- c5 40~~50 <5 4Oexk50 <5 40-=3060 this (unpubl. data). We suggestthat the low tick mean abundances at Blue-footed Booby nests were a conse- NUMBER OF TICKS quenceof the species’ lower nesting density rather than of its slightly warmer nests. Seasonalaspects of the life cycle FIGURE 1. Tick population intensity on nestling Blue- of both ticks and boobiesmay also play a part. Blue-footed footed Boobies from colonies at Caleta Iguana (A, it = Boobies nest throughout the year, but breeding peaks are 28); Vincente Rota (B; n = 36); and Cabo Douglas(C; n = not predictable(Nelson 1978). Peruvian Boobiesalso nest 40). throughout the year, but most activity occurs in spring (Vogt 1942). Ornithodorosamblus may be able to syn- chronize its life cycle to coincide with peak breeding of the Peruvian Booby, but the irregular cycle of the Blue- lated with wing length of nestlings(r, = 0.455; P < 0.01; footed Booby would prevent synchronizationfor 0. yunk- n = 28; Spearmanrank correlationwith correctionfor ties, eri in Galapagosand 0. amblus in Peru, making it less Siegel 1956:207). If only birds with ticks are included as likely to reach high population densities. a measure of the intensity of parasitism, the relationship The relation between tick 0. yunkeri numbers and body with size remained significant (rr = 0.547; P < 0.05; n = size of nestling Blue-footed Boobies in Galapagos may 15). have resulted from four factors: age, body surface area, surface cover by feathers, and the relative attraction of TICK (0. YUNKERI) MEAN ABUNDANCE AT brooding adults as hosts. DIFFERENT COLONIES Surfacearea increasesby a power of two compared to The numbers of ticks per bird at the three Galapagoscol- wing length; a greater surfacearea would allow more ticks onies were compared, using three size classesof young to feed simultaneously.Second, young Blue-footed Boo- representedby wing lengths of 20 to 80 mm; 80 to 200 bies are not fully covered with down until three weeks of mm; and 200 to 500 mm. The mean intensity of ticks on age (Nelson 1978:526). Subsequently,the increasedskin- the smallest-size class of young (wing lengths 20 to 80 surfacecoverage by feathers would provide shelter from mm) did not differ significantlybetween colonies (Fig. 1; preening by young boobies or their parents and perhaps x2 = 0.8 13, P > 0.05, df = 2; non-parametric test usedbe- alsoprotect from overheatingof ticks by insolation. Third, cause data were not normally distributed) but the two if ticks ‘colonize’ booby nests with young or reproduce larger classesdiffered (80 to 200 mm: x2 = 11.67, P < throughout the nestling stage, rather than already being 0.02; df = 4; 200 to 500 mm: x2 = 13.84, P < 0.001; df = present when booby eggshatch, then the older the booby 2).
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