Golden Eagle Nestlings Infested by Mexican Chicken Bugs in Chihuahua, Mexico

Morales-Yañez, Isaac; Rodríguez‐Estrella, Ricardo

doi:10.3356/jrr-18-45

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…We note, however, that juvenile eagles we studied were not selected randomly from nesting territories across the SGP, and thus we cannot report or speculate about distribution of MCB parasitism across the region. Parasitism of nestling Golden Eagles by MCBs has been documented across a relatively small part of the eagles' range elsewhere in North America: Chihuahua, Mexico (Morales-Yañez and Rodríguez-Estrella 2019), Arizona (K. Jacobsen, Arizona Game and Fish Department, unpubl data), and Idaho (McFadzen et al 1996, Dudek 2021). The range of MCBs may be increasing, however, in response to increasing temperatures under a changing global climate regime (Dudek 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ectoparasitism and Energy Infrastructure Limit Survival of Preadult Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains

Murphy,

Millsap,

Stahlecker

et al. 2023

Journal of Raptor Research

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ectoparasitism and Energy Infrastructure Limit Survival of Preadult Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains

Murphy,

Millsap,

Stahlecker

et al. 2023

Journal of Raptor Research

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“…In our study, we recorded nine instances of early or unsuccessful fledging from highly infested nests, 78% of which resulted in mortality. Early fledging from nests with high H. inodorus infestations has been documented in prairie falcons ( McFadzen and Marzluff, 1996 ) and golden eagles ( Morales-Yañez and Rodríquez-Estrella, 2019 ). Increased movements within a cliff nest’s limited area may increase the risk for individuals experiencing deteriorating health conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Haematophagous ectoparasites lower survival of and have detrimental physiological effects on golden eagle nestlings

Dudek

Henderson

Hudon

et al. 2021

Conservation Physiology

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Haematophagous ectoparasites can directly affect the health of young animals by depleting blood volume and reducing energetic resources available for growth and development. Less is known about the effects of ectoparasitism on stress physiology (i.e. glucocorticoid hormones) or animal behaviour. Mexican chicken bugs (Haematosiphon inodorus; Hemiptera: Cimicidae) are blood-sucking ectoparasites that live in nesting material or nest substrate and feed on nestling birds. Over the past 50 years, the range of H. inodorus has expanded, suggesting that new hosts or populations may be vulnerable. We studied the physiological and behavioural effects of H. inodorus on golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) nestlings in southwestern Idaho. We estimated the level of H. inodorus infestation at each nest and measured nestling mass, haematocrit, corticosterone concentrations, telomere lengths and recorded early fledging and mortality events. At nests with the highest levels of infestation, nestlings had significantly lower mass and haematocrit. In addition, highly parasitized nestlings had corticosterone concentrations twice as high on average (42.9 ng/ml) than non-parasitized nestlings (20.2 ng/ml). Telomeres of highly parasitized female nestlings significantly shortened as eagles aged, but we found no effect of parasitism on the telomeres of male nestlings. Finally, in nests with higher infestation levels, eagle nestlings were 20 times more likely to die, often because they left the nest before they could fly. These results suggest that H. inodorus may limit local golden eagle populations by decreasing productivity. For eagles that survived infestation, chronically elevated glucocorticoids and shortened telomeres may adversely affect cognitive function or survival in this otherwise long-lived species. Emerging threats from ectoparasites should be an important management consideration for protected species, like golden eagles.

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Ectoparasites of American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) Wintering on the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Frixione,

López-Avendaño,

Guzmán-Cornejo

2024

Journal of Raptor Research

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Golden Eagle Nestlings Infested by Mexican Chicken Bugs in Chihuahua, Mexico

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

Ectoparasitism and Energy Infrastructure Limit Survival of Preadult Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains

Ectoparasitism and Energy Infrastructure Limit Survival of Preadult Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains

Haematophagous ectoparasites lower survival of and have detrimental physiological effects on golden eagle nestlings

Ectoparasites of American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) Wintering on the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

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