Blood parasites in passerine birds from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Parasites may lead bird species to extinction, affect host temporal and spatial population dynamics, alter community structure and alter individuals' social status. We evaluated blood parasite prevalence and intensity according to bird families and species, among 925 birds that were caught in 2000 and 2001, in the Atlantic Forest in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. We applied Giemsa staining to thin blood smears, to detect blood parasites. The birds (n = 15.8%) in 11 families, were infected by at least one parasite genus, especially Muscicapidae (28.3%) and Conopophagidae (25%). Among the 146 infected birds, Plasmodium was detected in all bird families and had the highest prevalence (54.8%). Trypanosoma, Haemoproteus and microfilaria had lower prevalence rates (23.3, 23.3 and 2.1%, respectively). Birds caught during the rainy season were more infected than birds caught during the dry season. The overall low prevalence of blood parasites in birds is similar to the patterns found elsewhere in the Neotropical region.Keywords: Brazil, microscopy, parasites, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma, Haemoproteus. ResumoParasitos podem levar espécies de aves à extinção, afetar as dinâmicas temporais e espaciais dos hospedeiros, alterar a estrutura de comunidades e o status social de indivíduos. Avaliou-se a prevalência e a intensidade de parasitos em famílias e espécies de 925 aves capturadas, entre 2000 e 2001, na Mata Atlântica de Minas Gerais. Foram coradas com Giemsa extensões de sangue para detectar parasitos hematozoários. As aves (n= 15,8%) 11 famílias estavam infectadas por pelo menos um gênero de parasito, especialmente Muscicapidae (28,3%) e Conopophagidae (25%). Entre as 146 aves infectadas, Plasmodium foi detectado em todas as famílias e possuiu a maior prevalência (54,8%). Trypanosoma, Haemoproteus e microfilaria possuíram baixas prevalências (23,3, 23,3 e 2,1%, respectivamente). Aves capturadas durante a estação chuvosa estavam mais infectadas do que aves capturadas durante a estação seca. A baixa prevalência geral de parasitos do sangue das aves é semelhante aos padrões encontrados em outras localidades da região Neotropical.

Patterns of avian haemosporidian infections vary with time, but not habitat, in a fragmented Neotropical landscape

“…On the one hand, our results are in accordance with other studies where no association was observed between habitat loss and avian haemosporidians [ 21 ]. For example, in a Brazilian Atlantic forest, although forest fragment size was related to changes in host populations and vectors, no effect was found on avian blood parasites [ 67 ]. However, also in the same region, birds captured in larger areas were more infected than those captured in smaller ones [ 68 ].…”

“…Differences on parasite infections may be due to a variety of other factors, including the phylogeny of birds [ 32 , 70 , 71 ], avian community composition [ 67 , 72 ], bird species [ 14 ], food availability, altitude or woodland edge [ 30 , 73 ], microhabitat [ 74 ] or landscape characteristics [ 75 ]. As observed in other studies, we observed marked differences in infection status depending on bird species, a factor that explained most of the infection variability in our models.…”

Endoparasites in Birds of Guaribas Biological Reserve, Atlantic Forest, Paraíba State, Brazil

“…If chronic infections with low parasitemia are the rule in the studied population, it is likely that our study underestimated the true prevalence of these parasites. All positive samples came from C. talpacoti, whereas individuals from other species known to frequently host haemosporidians, such as the as Rupornis magnirostris (23) , Elaenia cristata (20) , Formicivora grisea, Turdus leucomelas (21,23,26) and Coereba flaveola (22) , were found to be negative in our study. The haemoparasite found here were morphologically compatible with Haemoproteus columbae, a species that has been reported in C. talpacoti (27,28) , including in Brazil (27,29) .…”

“…Haemosporidian parasites were relatively uncommon (2.29%) compared to studies conducted in Brazil using microscopy (19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Habitat modification can increase the prevalence of these parasites (24) and the low prevalence might be explained by the protection of the habitat and its avifauna.…”

Detection of Anaplasma sp. phylogenetically related to A. phagocytophilum in a free-living bird in Brazil

“…(BENNETT & LOPES, 1980;ADRIANO & CORDEIRO, 2001;LOBATO et al, 2011;SEBAIO et al, 2010SEBAIO et al, , 2012TOSTES et al, 2015).…”