Can the intake of antiparasitic secondary metabolites explain the low prevalence of hemoparasites among wild Psittaciformes?

• Published in: Parasites & Vectors
• Main Authors: Masello, Juan F., Martínez, Javier, Calderón, Luciano, Wink, Michael, Quillfeldt, Petra, Sanz, Virginia, Theuerkauf, Jörn, Ortiz-Catedral, Luis, Berkunsky, Igor, Brunton, Dianne, Díaz-Luque, José A., Hauber, Mark E., Ojeda, Valeria, Barnaud, Antoine, Casalins, Laura
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd. 2018
• Subjects: Antiparasitic metabolites; Blood parasites; Cacatuidae; Haemoparasites; Herbivorous; Omnivorous; Plant secondary metabolites; Psittacidae; Self-medication; Avian Studies
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-018-2940-3; https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/167500

© 2018 The Author(s).Background: Parasites can exert selection pressure on their hosts through effects on survival, on reproductive success, on sexually selected ornament, with important ecological and evolutionary consequences, such as changes in population viability. Consequently, hemoparasites have become the focus of recent avian studies. Infection varies significantly among taxa. Various factors might explain the differences in infection among taxa, including habitat, climate, host density, the presence of vectors, life history and immune defence. Feeding behaviour can also be relevant both through increased exposure to vectors and consumption of secondary metabolites with preventative or therapeutic effects that can reduce parasite load. However, the latter has been little investigated. Psittaciformes (parrots and cockatoos) are a good model to investigate these topics, as they are known to use biological control against ectoparasites and to feed on toxic food. We investigated th