Preliminary study on the tick (Acari: Ixodidae) infestation of wild birds in the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

From January 2002 to February 2003, a total of 138 ticks representing two species, Haemaphysalis flava Neumann and Ixodes turdus Nakatsuji, were obtained from 15 wild birds comprising 8 species: Strix uralensis Pallas, Phoenicurus auroreus Pallas, Zoothera dauma (Latham), Turdus pallidus Gmelin, Turdus naumanni Temminck, Cettia diphone (Kittlitz), A crocephalus bistrigiceps Swinhoe, and Emberiza variabilis Temminck, in the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture, Japan. All the ticks were in nymphal and larval stages. We report for the first time the presence of H. flava from P. auroreus and A. bistrigiceps, and I. turdus from Z. dauma and T. naumanni. Ixodes turdus is newly recorded from birds in Shimane Prefecture.