Research Article

Evidence for tolerance of parasitism in a tropical cavity-nesting bird, planalto woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes platyrostris), in northern Argentina

Andrea R. Norris^a1 c1, Kristina L. Cockle^a1a2 and Kathy Martin^a1a3

^a1 Centre for Applied Conservation Research, Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

^a2 Proyecto Selva de Pino Paraná, Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD – Universidad Maimónides. Valentín Virasoro 732, C1405BDB Buenos Aires, Argentina

^a3 Science & Technology Branch, Environment Canada, 5421 Robertson Road, RR1, Delta, BC, V4K 3N2, Canada

Abstract:

Avian hosts may either resist the negative effects of nestling ectoparasites by minimizing the number of parasites, or tolerate parasitism by increasing their fecundity via the reproductive compensation hypothesis. Little is known about the interactions between ectoparasites and their avian hosts in the tropics. We (1) examined nestling development rates, and tested whether (2) parasitism by a subcutaneous ectoparasitic botfly (Philornis sp.) had negative effects on the condition of nestlings, and (3) these negative effects were minimized in larger broods in a tropical cavity-nesting bird, the planalto woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes platyrostris), in primary and secondary Atlantic forests in the northern province of Misiones, Argentina. Nestling mass and ectoparasite load per nestling reached maxima when nestlings (n = 50) were between 10 and 14 d old. General linear mixed models predicted that mass at fledging declined with increasing nestling parasite load, suggesting that botflies had a negative influence on fledging condition. Parasite load per nestling declined with increasing brood size indicating that woodcreepers that increase their reproductive output minimize the negative effects of parasitism. Overall we found evidence to support the tolerance via reproductive compensation hypothesis. Future tests of the reproductive compensation hypothesis may help determine the underlying mechanism of the observed negative correlation between parasite load of nestlings and brood size.

(Accepted July 14 2010)

Key Words:

• Atlantic forest;
• botflies;
• coevolution;
• ectoparasitism;
• life-history strategies;
• nestling development rates;
• Philornis;
• reproduction;
• reproductive compensation

Correspondence:

^c1 Corresponding author. Email: arnorris@interchange.ubc.ca