ectoparasites

Although the term ectoparasites can broadly include blood-sucking arthropods such as mosquitoes (because they are dependent on a blood meal from a human host for their survival), this term is generally used more narrowly to refer to organisms such as ticks, fleas, lice, and mites that attach or burrow into the skin and remain there for relatively long periods of time (e.g., weeks to months).

Parasite 2008

Dispatching certain ectoparasites – notably fleas and feather lice – isn’t easy because the tough, flattened bodies of these arthropods are really good at resisting pressure.

The war on parasites: a pigeon’s eye view Darren Naish 2006

Dispatching certain ectoparasites – notably fleas and feather lice – isn’t easy because the tough, flattened bodies of these arthropods are really good at resisting pressure.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

In particular we’re going to look at how birds have evolved to cope with certain ectoparasites.

The war on parasites: a pigeon’s eye view Darren Naish 2006

In particular we’re going to look at how birds have evolved to cope with certain ectoparasites.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

So I would be confident that Mesozoic birds, and fuzzy and feathered non-avian theropods, had to contend with ectoparasites.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

So did they also have to contend with ectoparasites?

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

Though there are bird species with specialized pedal claws that function in preening (namely herons, pratincoles and nightjars), birds rely on their bills when cleaning their feathers and removing ectoparasites.

The war on parasites: a pigeon’s eye view Darren Naish 2006

In Dinosaurs of the Air Greg Paul illustrated a Sinosauropteryx scratching in order to remove ectoparasites, and the cover of The Dinosauria, Second Edition (the current industry-standard volume on dinosaurs) features a Sinosauropteryx (this time by Mark Hallett) nibbling at its proto-feathers, again presumably as a form of ectoparasite control.

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

Terrestrial birds whose plumage is superficially similar to that of fuzzy small theropods are notorious for harbouring ectoparasites, with kiwis in particular being reported to crawl with numerous fleas, ticks, feather mites and lice (Kleinpaste 1991).

Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006