As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 22 February 2015

Cliff swallow breeding thwarted by bird version of bedbugs

Bedbugs are no fun, even when you’re a bird.

The species that bothers humans — Cimex lectularius — only feasts on us. But other animals have to deal with their own versions of the nasty parasite. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), for instance, are plagued by the American swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius). When swallow bugs infest cliff swallows’ gourd-shaped nests, it’s bad news for swallow nestlings, affecting the young birds’ development and survival.

The parasites are also bad for the parents, scientists report February 17 in Royal Society Open Science. But instead of taking a toll on the parents’ bodies, the swallow bugs affect breeding.

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