Infestation with Ixodes ricinus ticks on migrating passerine birds in Lithuania and Norway

Abstract

Ticks are known to carry several pathogenic agents of human diseases. To define the role of migrating birds as host and disseminators of ticks in Lithuania and Norway we analysed immature stage of ticks feeding on different passerine bird species. During April-May of 2006-2007 and August-September of 2008, migrating passerine birds were captured at ornithological stations in southern Norway and in Lithuania respectively. In Norway were investigated 152 passerine birds representing 26 species, in Lithuania - 36 birds of 14 species. A total of 668 immature stages of I. ricinus ticks were collected. The most infested bird species in Norway were Starling (Sturnus vulgaris ), Icterine Warblers (Hippolais icterina) and Blackbird (Turdus merula) and in Lithuania Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) and Trush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). In Norway the total bird infestation rate was 4.1, but in Lithuania birds were 2.4 times less infested. The infestation with nymphal stages of I. ricinus was more frequent than the larval. The results of the study support previous observations that migratory birds play an important role in the dispersal of I. ricinus ticks