Wing Island Bird Banding Station
is supported by the
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
www.ccmnh.org
Research at Wing Island
In 2001, 149 ticks were analyzed in the lab with a 4% infectivity rate. The ticks that tested
positive for the Lyme disease spirochete were taken from a Common Yellowthroat and a Song Sparrow.
In 2002 we removed 1,002 ticks from 394 birds of 22 species.There was a tremendous increase on the
amount of birds carrying ticks, as well as the number of ticks compared with 2001.
2003 has shown less ticks on birds, but higher counts of adult ticks all over the cape. So far we have
removed 492 ticks from 183 birds of 15 species as of 9/14/03.
A search is on for the Lone Star tick also, a southern tick species never found on the cape
before until a few years ago. We are looking at the possibility of Lone Star ticks developing a
population here.
The research station at the museum operates from the last week in April through the end of November.
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.
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 the spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) that
causes Lyme disease. When an infected tick parasitizes a bird, the bird may also become infected with
the spirochete 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.
Tick at the edge of a Carolina Wren's bill.
The tick is gray because it is in its nymphal stage.
Another research study involves 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.
Examining a warbler's rectrices.