Research at Wing Island

Tick at the edge of a Carolina Wren's bill. The tick is gray because it is in its nymphal stage.

Research is being done on birds that serve as vectors of tick diseases, such as Lyme disease. Deer ticks are very prevalent on Cape Cod and often carry pathogens that cause tick-borne illnesses such as the spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) that causes Lyme disease. When an infected tick parasitizes a bird, the bird may also become infected with pathogens and become a reservoir host, thus infecting other ticks. Migrating songbirds can travel great distances and so have the potential to disseminate disease in many areas.

Our goal is to determine the ability of migratory and resident songbirds to pass infectious agents to ticks on Cape Cod . A total of 2,241 Ixodes sp. ticks were removed and analyzed from 1,003 birds of 36 species between the years 2001-2007. This was done in cooperation with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension in Barnstable , MA . During the years 2005-2007 only larval ticks were tested for infection. We have found larval ticks infected with both Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytomphilium, formally Ehrlichia, with some of those ticks being co-infected. Our efforts are also focused on searching for the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum), a southern tick species never found on Cape Cod until several years ago. There is the possibility of Lone Star ticks developing a population in this area.

Examining a warbler's rectrices.

Other research projects include molt studies on Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, and Myrtle Warbler and a study involving ageing and sexing Pine Siskins by the outer rectrices (tail feathers). This involves going to feeding stations offsite where Pine Siskins are feeding in winter or breeding in summer.

The Punkhorn Parklands became a new MAPS station in May,2002. MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) is a cooperative effort among banders and private and public organizations in North America and is coordinated by the Institute for Bird Populations. A standardized protocol is followed and banding does not begin until birds have established their breeding territories. The MAPS project helps to understand the increase or decrease of bird species. It is also very important for developing land management plans for those species in decline.