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Table 1 Bird species with tick infestation patterns, collected at the Ottenby Bird Observatory, Sweden, 2009

From: Migratory birds as disseminators of ticks and the tick-borne pathogens Borrelia bacteria and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus: a seasonal study at Ottenby Bird Observatory in South-eastern Sweden

Bird species

Migratory categorya

No. of bird captures

No. of infested birds (%)

No. of ticks

Mean no. ticks per infested bird ± SE

Median no. ticks

per infested bird

(IQR)

Tick species and developmental stagec

Ixodes spp.

I. r

I. f

H. p

H. m

ND

Accipiter nisus

PM

5

1 (20)

1

–

–

 

1N

    

Acrocephalus palustris

LM

21

3 (14)

4

1.3 ± 0.33

1 (1.00–2.00)

 

4N

    

Acrocephalus scirpaceus

LM

11

1 (9.0)

1

–

–

 

1N

    

Anthus trivialis

LM

39

26 (67)

93

3.6 ± 0.73

2 (1.00–4.25)

4L

52L, 33N

   

4

Carduelis cannabina

SM

15

1 (6.7)

1

–

–

   

1L

  

Carduelis flammea

SM

36

2 (5.6)

7

3.5 ± 1.50

3.5

 

7N

    

Certhia familiaris

PM

26

2 (7.7)

4

2.0 ± 0.00

2

 

2L

   

2

Cyanistes caeruleus

PM

58

4 (6.9)

7

1.6 ± 0.75

1 (1.00–3.25)

 

1N

 

4L

 

2

Emberiza schoeniclus

SM

28

2 (7.1)

3

1.5 ± 0.50

1.5

 

2N

   

1

Erithacus rubecula

SM

1551

368 (24)

619

1.7 ± 0.09

1 (1.00–2.00)

38L, 13N

278L, 194N, 3U

5L, 11N, 1A

 

1L

75

Fringilla coelebs

SM

37

6 (16)

8

1.3 ± 0.21

1 (1.00–2.00)

 

4L, 2N

  

1A

1

Fringilla montifringilla

SM

8

1 (13)

1

–

–

 

1L

    

Hippolais icterina

LM

50

2 (4.0)

2

1.0 ± 0.00

2

 

1L, 1N

    

Lanius collurio

LM

43

3 (7.0)

3

1.0 ± 0.00

1 (1.00–1.00)

 

3N

    

Luscinia luscinia

LM

18

10 (56)

29

2.9 ± 0.78

2 (1.75–3.25)

 

20L, 9N

    

Luscinia svecica

LM

28

2 (7.1)

2

1.0 ± 0.00

1

1N

1N

    

Motacilla alba

LM

23

1 (4.3)

3

–

–

 

2L

 

1L

  

Oenanthe oenanthe

LM

6

1 (17)

1

–

–

   

1L

  

Parus major

PM

44

3 (6.8)

8

2.7 ± 1.67

1 (1.00–6.00)

 

2N

   

6

Passer domesticus

R

16

1 (6.3)

1

–

–

 

1N

    

Phoenicurus ochruros

LM

10

2 (20)

2

1.0 ± 0.00

1

 

2N

    

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

LM

134

40 (30)

64

1.6 ± 0.22

1 (1.00–2.00)

 

29L, 32N

   

3

Phylloscopus collybita

SM

79

3 (3.8)

3

1.0 ± 0.00

1 (1.00–1.00)

 

2N

   

1

Phylloscopus trochilus

LM

810

38 (4.7)

57

1.5 ± 0.14

1 (1.00–2.00)

1L, 1N

19L, 30N

1L

 

2N

3

Prunella modularis

SM

44

16 (36)

24

1.5 ± 0.14

1 (1.00–1.00)

2N

3L, 19N

    

Regulus regulus

PM

319

9 (2.8)

9

1.0 ± 0.00

1 (1.00–1.00)

 

2L, 7N

    

Sturnus vulgaris

SM

14

3 (21)

3

1.0 ± 0.00

1 (1.00–1.00)

 

2N

 

1L

  

Sylvia atricapilla

SM

58

4 (6.9)

4

1.0 ± 0.00

1 (1.00–1.00)

 

2L, 1N

   

1

Sylvia communis

LM

123

27 (22)

49

1.8 ± 0.37

1 (1.00–2.00)

 

23L, 17N

 

4L

 

5

Sylvia curruca

LM

270

10 (3.7)

11

1.1 ± 0.10

1 (1.00–1.00)

 

7L, 2N

   

2

Troglodytes troglodytes

PM

254

72 (28)

120

1.7 ± 0.20

1 (1.00–2.00)

13L, 2N

59L, 31N, 1U

1L

  

13

Turdus iliacus

SM

29

9 (31)

23

2.6 ± 0.69

2 (1.00–4.50)

 

1L, 18N

1N

  

3

Turdus merula

PM

147

66 (45)

149

2.3 ± 0.25

1 (1.00–3.00)

6N

8L, 108N, 1U

1L, 2N

  

23

Turdus philomelos

SM

60

9 (15)

22

2.4 ± 0.58

2 (1.00–3.50)

2N

2L, 17N

1N

   

Unknownb

 

1

1 (100)

1

–

–

 

1N

    

Acrocephalus arundinaceus

LM

1

0

0

        

Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

LM

23

0

0

        

Anthus pratensis

SM

5

0

0

        

Carduelis carduelis

SM

15

0

0

        

Chloris chloris

SM

16

0

0

        

Carduelis spinus

SM

9

0

0

        

Carpodacus erythrinus

LM

2

0

0

        

Coccothraustes coccothraustes

PM

1

0

0

        

Corvus monedula

R

1

0

0

        

Delichon urbica

LM

43

0

0

        

Dendrocopus major

PM

1

0

0

        

Emberiza citrinella

SM

23

0

0

        

Ficedula albicollis

LM

2

0

0

        

Ficedula hypoleuca

LM

31

0

0

        

Ficedula parva

LM

8

0

0

        

Hirundo rustica

LM

25

0

0

        

Jynx torquilla

LM

1

0

0

        

Locustella naevia

LM

1

0

0

        

Motacilla flava

LM

2

0

0

        

Muscicapa striata

LM

55

0

0

        

Passer montanus

R

37

0

0

        

Phylloscopus borealis

LM

1

0

0

        

Phylloscopus sibilatrix

LM

19

0

0

        

Picus viridis

R

1

0

0

        

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

PM

2

0

0

        

Saxicola rubetra

LM

1

0

0

        

Serinus serinus

SM

2

0

0

        

Sylvia borin

LM

42

0

0

        

Sylvia nisoria

LM

1

0

0

        

Turdus pilaris

SM

1

0

0

        

Turdus viscivorus

SM

1

0

0

        

Total number of specimens

 

4788

749

1339

–

 

56L, 27N

515L, 551N, 5U,

8L, 15N, 1A,

12L

1L, 2N, 1A

145

  1. aLM: long-distance migrants (in many cases wintering in Africa); SM: short-distance migrants where the majority of individuals winter in Europe; PM: partial migrants where individuals either migrate short distances within Europe or remain resident; R: residents
  2. bProbably Lanius collurio
  3. cAbbreviations: L, larva; N, nymph; A, adult female; U, undetermined developmental stage due to lack of photos; I. r, Ixodes ricinus; I. f, Ixodes frontalis; H. p, Haemaphysalis punctata; H. m, Hyalomma marginatum; ND, not determined to genus, species or developmental stage because of lack of photos of ticks and/or loss of sample; SE, standard error; IQR, interquartile range
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Parasites & Vectors

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