Feather Mites Associated with Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialisL.) in Georgia, Including the Description of a New Species ofTrouessartia(Analgoidea: Trouessartiidae)

Abstract

Eastern Bluebirds inhabiting a grass-dominated agricultural environment within a northwestern Georgia land tract were examined over the course of three breeding seasons (2004 through 2006) to assess the presence of ectosymbionts. More than 90% of bluebirds examined harbored plumicolous feather mites of four species: Pterodectes sialiarum (Proctophyllodidae), Mesalgoides sp. (Psoroptoididae), Analges sp. (Analgidae), and a previously undescribed Trouessartia sp. The recovery of P. sialiarum represented the second report of this species, which had previously been recorded from Eastern Bluebirds in Guatemala. New host records for Mesalgoides sp. and Analges sp., and a description of Trouessartia sialiae sp. nov. also resulted from the study. Mite abundance did not vary among groups of birds categorized by subjective quantification, with the exception of a group of a few individuals harboring a vast number of mites. Abundance was not correlated with mean host body mass or body condition and was also independent of host sex. Feather mites were most commonly found on primary remiges, occasionally on secondary remiges, and rarely on rectrices; each mite species was located on a specific type of feather. Lice were also occasionally recovered, but were reported separately.