Birds as the Feeders of Ticks (Acari, Ixodida) in Megalopolis of Kyiv

Abstract

Abstract Birds as the Feeders of Ticks (Acari, Ixodida) in Megalopolis of Kyiv. Nebogatkin, I. V. - Data about ticks parasitizing on birds in the city of Kyiv were summarized. 117 birds and 27 nests were examined. Ticks were found on six species collecting food on the ground level: Great Tit (Parus major), White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), Rook (Corvus frugilegus), blackbird (Turdus merula), and Nuthatch (Sitta europaea). 56 Ixodidae specimens of four species from two genera were collected from the birds and their nests: Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758); I. arboricola Schulze et Schlottke, 1930; I. lividus (Koch, 1844), Haemaphysalis concinna Koch, 1844. Th e role of birds as feeders of all developmental stages of ticks not only increases under conditions of urban landscape, but also becomes leading in the places with low population of small mammals. Ectoparasites of birds of the other taxonomic groups along with the ticks can play an important role in maintaining the circulation of pathogens of various aetiologies in the urban landscapes.