Low intensity blood parasite infections do not reduce the aerobic performance of migratory birds

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 285; no. 1871; p. 20172307
• Main Authors: Hahn, Steffen, Bauer, Silke, Dimitrov, Dimitar, Emmenegger, Tamara, Ivanova, Karina, Zehtindjiev, Pavel, Buttemer, William A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 31.01.2018; The Royal Society Publishing
• Edition: Royal Society (Great Britain)
• Subjects: Aerobic capacity; Animal breeding; Animal Migration; Animals; Avian Malaria; Bird migration; Birds; Blood parasites; Bulgaria - epidemiology; Chronic infection; Conspecifics; Disease; Ecology; Erythrocytes; Exercise; Female; Host-Parasite Interactions; Infections; Life history; Malaria, Avian - epidemiology; Malaria, Avian - parasitology; Malaria, Avian - physiopathology; Male; Metabolic Rate; Metabolism; Migration; Migratory birds; Oxygen Consumption; Parasitemia - epidemiology; Parasitemia - parasitology; Parasitemia - physiopathology; Parasites; Pathogen; Physical fitness; Plasmodium - physiology; Prevalence; Random Allocation; Songbirds; Bulgaria; migration; avian malaria; metabolic rate; pathogen; disease; oxygen consumption

Blood parasites (Haemosporidia) are thought to impair the flight performance of infected animals, and therefore, infected birds are expected to differ from their non-infected counterparts in migratory capacity. Since haemosporidians invade host erythrocytes, it is commonly assumed that infected indi...