Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Mite infestations in cockatiels found for first time in Brazil
By Albuquerque, Daniela D A et al.·Published in Parasitology international·2012·Departamento de Patologia e Clí, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The first identification of Nymphicilichus perezae Mironov and Galloway, 2002 in cockatiels in Brazil and the first record of Psittophagus sp. Gaud and Atyeo, 1996 and cf. Dubininia sp. Vassilev, 1958 in cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus Kerr, 1792).
- Species:
- bird
Plain-English summary
A group of 36 cockatiels in Brazil were found to have mite infestations, with 22 of them (about 61%) affected. The most common mite identified was Nymphicilichus perezae, along with other types of mites. While some birds had missing feathers, they did not show signs of feather-picking behavior or changes in feather color. The study highlights the presence of these mites in cockatiels for the first time in Brazil, indicating that different mite species can coexist on the same bird without competing for resources.
People also search for: cockatiel mites treatment · why does my cockatiel have missing feathers · feather mites in birds
Abstract
Mite infestations were observed in 22 of 36 (61%) of Nymphicus hollandicus Kerr, 1792 examined at the Wild Animal Sector of the Veterinary Medicine College - Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Brazil. We examined 177 feather samples from 36 birds for ectosymbiotic arthropods. Nymphicilichus perezae Mironov and Galloway, 2002, was the predominant mite detected, followed by cf. Dubininia sp. Vassilev, 1958 (21.6%). Genus Psittophagus Gaud and Atyeo, 1996 were present in 13.5% of samples. Concurrent infestations of N. perezae and cf. Dubininia sp. occurred in 22.7% of the cockatiels, of N. perezae and Psittophagus sp. in 9.1%, and of N. perezae, cf. Dubininia sp. and Psittophagus sp. in 4.6%. Results were analyzed through a descriptive analysis and the non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test was used to assess the distribution of mites among different regions of birds' bodies. This test showed that remiges primaries (right and left) were the feathers most infested. A few birds (9.1%) had feathers missing in some body regions. Feather-picking behavior was not observed during the clinical examination of the infested cockatiels, and no alterations in feather color were detected in the infestation foci. Due to their specificity to particular places on their hosts' different mite species, appear to live on the same bird without any apparent competition. This work is the first identification of N. perezae in the cockatiel N. hollandicus in Brazil. These are the first records of Psittophagus sp. and cf. Dubininia sp. in cockatiels.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22609953/