LOW PREVALENCE OF HAEMOSPORIDIANS IN BLOOD AND TISSUE SAMPLES FROM HUMMINGBIRDS

Area of Science:

• Ornithology
• Parasitology
• Ecology

Background:

• Hummingbirds are crucial to ecosystems and serve as health indicators.
• Monitoring parasitic infections in hummingbirds is vital due to their high metabolic needs.
• Haemosporidians are known avian blood parasites, but their prevalence in hummingbirds is understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence and diversity of haemosporidian parasites in hummingbirds.
• To compare the effectiveness of four tissue types for parasite detection using PCR.
• To identify hummingbird species and tissues most susceptible to haemosporidian infection.

Main Methods:

• Blood samples from 339 hummingbirds across 3 species were analyzed for haemosporidian infection.
• Tissue samples (heart, kidney, liver, pectoral muscle) from 70 hummingbird carcasses across 5 species were tested.
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect haemosporidian DNA in all samples.

Main Results:

• Overall prevalence of haemosporidian infection in blood samples was 1.2% (4/339 individuals).
• Prevalence detected in carcass tissues ranged from 9.52% (kidney) to 11.76% (pectoral muscle), with no significant difference between tissue types.
• All positive infections were found in the Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri).

Conclusions:

• Haemosporidian parasite prevalence in the studied hummingbird populations appears low.
• Detection success rates were comparable across heart, kidney, liver, and pectoral muscle tissues.
• Low prevalence may be due to factors like reduced susceptibility to insect vectors or parasite incompatibility in hummingbirds.