Re: Ticks and birds

[Helmut Mueller <hmuelle@earthlink.net>]

Ticks are not all that rare on birds..but I usually see them in fall & early
winter & not as large as either of you describe..I suspect that that yours
may be of a different species .

-- Helmut C Mueller

409 Moonridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Phone: 919-942-4937

Permanent email address: hmueller@email.unc.edu


> From: BILL HILTON JR The Piedmont Naturalist <hilton@hiltonpond.org>
> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 20:52:10 -0500
> To: carolinabirds@duke.edu (CarolinaBirds)
> Subject: Re: Ticks and birds
> 
>> I may have seen something a while back about this, but I can't remember for
>> sure.  Today at lunch time I was watching the house finches at my back yard
>> feeders--checking for eye problems.  I noticed a female bird with something
>> on the back of it's head.  I couldn't figure out what it was--it was round,
>> dark gray, and at first I though it was a patch of skin with no feathers.
>> then I realized it was protruding from the back of the bird's skull.  I
>> finally decided it looked more like a tick than anything else--a big inflated
>> tick. The bird was acting kind of sluggish and no wonder since the thing was
>> about the size of a large green pea! I have not noticed a tick on a bird
>> before.  Is this common?    Reply off list is fine.
>> 
>> Mary Bridges
>> Goldsboro, NC
> 
> MARY . . .
> 
> It probably was a tick. Just today something strange happened here at
> Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History. I opened a bluebird
> box and found inside a dead Carolina Chickadee with an 8mm tick
> attached to its throat.
> 
> You might check out my article about ticks and birds at
> http://www.hiltonpond.org/ArticleBirdTicksMain.html .
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> BILL
> -- 
> 
> BILL HILTON JR., Executive Director
> Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
> 1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
> hilton@hiltonpond.org, (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845
> 
> The mission of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is "to
> conserve plants, animals, habitats, and other natural components of
> the Piedmont Region of the eastern United States through observation,
> scientific study, and education for students of all ages." Please
> visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net) at
> http://www.hiltonpond.org and  http://www.rubythroat.org ("Operation
> RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project").
> 
> "Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to
> watch the sunset."     BHjr.