The effect of nest ectoparasites on parental provisioning in a north-African population of the blue tit Parus caeruleus
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Published source details
Bouslama Z., Lambrechts M.M., Ziane N., Djenidi R. & Chabi Y. (2002) The effect of nest ectoparasites on parental provisioning in a north-African population of the blue tit Parus caeruleus. Ibis, 144.
Published source details Bouslama Z., Lambrechts M.M., Ziane N., Djenidi R. & Chabi Y. (2002) The effect of nest ectoparasites on parental provisioning in a north-African population of the blue tit Parus caeruleus. Ibis, 144.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Remove ectoparasites from nests to increase survival or reproductive success Action Link |
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Remove ectoparasites from nests to increase survival or reproductive success
A small randomised, controlled study over three breeding seasons in north-eastern Algeria (Bouslama et al. 2002) found that blue tit Parus caeruleus nests that were heat treated with a microwave (three minutes heating at 830 W) had significantly fewer blowflies Protocalliphora spp. than control (unheated) nests (2.0 flies/nest for ten experimental nests vs. 54.9 flies/nest for eleven controls). Experimental nests also had lower numbers of ticks Ixodes ricinus and hen fleas Ceratophyllus gallinae (8.8 ticks/nest and 3.1 fleas/nest for experimental nests vs. 20.5 ticks/nest and 15.1 fleas/nest for controls), but these differences were not significant after controlling for confounding factors. Growth rates of chicks did not differ between treatments but more chicks fledged from treated nests compared to controls (6.0 chicks/nest vs. 4.6 chicks/nest).
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