We studied the parasitism of the exotic European starling Sturnus vulgaris by native botflies Philornis spp. in Argentina. We installed thirty nest boxes in the northeastern Buenos Aires province in the 2010-2011 breeding season. In the first brood, subcutaneous larvae of Philornis (Muscidae) parasitised 34 nestlings (89.4%) of 11 clutches (91.6%) and only three nestlings fledged. In the second brood, Philornis parasitised 15 (48.3%) nestlings of seven clutches (70%) and all the nestlings died. Compared to the mortality of other Neotropical birds parasitised by Philornis, the mortality in European starling nests is the highest found in the region. Our results show that the studied population of European starling suffers a high level of parasitism by Philornis, although this factor was not directly associated with the high mortality of starling nestlings. The fact that most non-parasitised nestlings also died indicates that other factors are also affecting nestling survival. Experiments that allow us to isolate the effect of Philornis from other variables would be needed to evaluate the impact of botfly larvae on starling nestlings.
Species of insects associated to the habitat of Gallus gallus (Aves: Phasianidae) in the Neotropical Region belong to 144 identified species (42 Coleoptera; 14 Diptera; 17 Hymenoptera; 9 Siphonaptera; 1 Lepidoptera; 56 Hemiptera (one hybrid); 5 Dermaptera); 33 identified to genus (21 Coleoptera; 3 Diptera; 7 Hymenoptera; 1 Hemiptera; 1 Blattaria); 37 identified to family (23 Coleoptera; 9 Diptera; 2 Hymenoptera; 1 Lepidoptera; 2 Hemiptera); and 6 to order (2 Coleoptera; 1 Hymenoptera; 1 Siphonaptera; 1 Psocoptera; 1 Dermaptera). Most of the insects are haematophagous ectoparasites (Hemiptera; Siphonaptera; Diptera), detritivores (Coleoptera; Lepidoptera; Diptera; Blattaria), predators (Coleoptera; Diptera; Hemiptera; Dermaptera; Hymenoptera), and parasitoids (Hymenoptera). A total of 46 native American species and/or subspecies of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) were found in chicken houses, from which 18 were also found in birds’ nests. It was recently observed that other insects from poultry houses, generally exotic species, had colonized native American birds’ nests. Comments and remarks of selected taxa also found in birds’ nests from Argentina and other countries are provided.
This is the first record showing eleven species in seven genera of Furnariidae (Aves: Passeriformes) from Argentina that regurgitate pellets. A total of 627 nests of Furnariidae was examined, and from 84 nests (13.3%), 1,329 pellets were recovered. These pellets were found in the closed, domed nests of many Furnariidae, because in comparison to other passerine birds, their nests were used for roosting, especially in the subfamily Synallaxinae. Anumbius annumbi had the highest percentage of nests containing pellets. Food items identified from the pellets provided important new data on the diets of several species of Furnariidae.
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