Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 May 30;7(2):204-206.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.05.006. eCollection 2018 Aug.

Haemosporidian parasite community in migrating bobolinks on the Galapagos Islands

Noah G Perlut  1 , Patricia G Parker  2   3   4 , Rosalind B Renfrew  5 , Maricruz Jaramillo  2   3
Affiliations

Haemosporidian parasite community in migrating bobolinks on the Galapagos Islands

Noah G Perlut et al. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. .

Abstract

Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) migrate from their breeding grounds in North America to their wintering grounds in South America during the fall each year. A small number of Bobolinks stop temporarily in Galapagos, and potentially carry parasites. On the North American breeding grounds, Bobolinks carry a least two of the four Plasmodium lineages recently detected in resident Galapagos birds. We hypothesized that Bobolinks carried these parasites to Galapagos, where they were bitten by mosquitoes that then transmitted the parasites to resident birds. The haemosporidian parasite community in 44% of the Bobolinks we captured was consistent with those on their breeding grounds. However, the lineages were not those found in Galapagos birds. Our results provide a parasite community key for future monitoring.

Keywords: Bobolink; Dolichonyx oryzivorus; Galapagos; Haemosporidian parasite; Migrant; Passerine; Plasmodium; San Cristobal Island.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Asigau S., Hartman D.A., Higaschiguchi J.M., Parker P.G. The distribution of mosquitos across an altitudinal gradient in the Galapagos Island. J. Vector Ecol. 2017;42:243–253. - PubMed
    1. Atkinson C.T., Samuel M.D. Avian malaria Plasmodium relictum in native Hawaiian forest birds: epizootiology and demographic impacts on ‘apapane Himatione sanguinea. J. Avian Biol. 2010;41:357–366.
    1. Bataille A., Cunningham A.A., Cede˜no V., Pati˜no L., Constantinou A., Kramer L.D., Goodman S.J. Natural colonization and adaptation of a mosquito species in Galapagos: implications for disease threats to endemic wildlife. P. Natl. A. Sci. USA. 2009;106:10230–10235. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Clark N., Clegg S.M., Lima M.R. A review of global diversity in avian haemosporidians (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus: Haemosporida): new insights from molecular data. Int. J. Parasitol. 2014;44:329–338. - PubMed
    1. Cornelius E.A., Davis A.K., Altizer S.A. How Important are Hemoparasites to migratory Songbirds? Evaluating physiological measures and infection status in three neotropical migrants during stopover. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 2014;87:719–728. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources