Avian Lice

[Dumpsterkitty]

I knew I had seen this discussion before...thank you Kfalconcam yahoo group archive...

Banding day 2006 news:

All three eyases were found to be in good health, with clear mouths and vents.  Avian lice was present on all birds, but that's not at all unusual.  From Barbara Loucks comes the following banding notes:

"Rhea Mae"  Female,  Silver  (no colored tape) USFWS band 1687-01188, Black/Red P/*T

"Sabrina"  Female, Red tape over USFWS band 1687-01189, Black/Red M/*T

"Aura"  Female, Blue tape over USFWS band 1687-01190, Black/Green 50/U
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---Its been mentioned that the girls had lice & that its perfectly normal but do they do anything to get rid of the lice? (Kathy)

---Kathy, i don't know much but in this case I think it's an exercise in
futility to treat these lice even if it could be done with complete
safety. Thing is they come from the birds they eat so they would be
reinfected anyway! It used to "bug" me as I'm always trying to free my
pets of cooties, but I guess the immune systems of predators have to
learn to deal, hmmm? (julie)

---Hi Kathy and Julie
Try to get rid of lice can be very stressing and dangerous for the
eyases, the only way to do it completely is using some insecticides,
and even with them there is almost imposible to remove or kill the
eggs. And we must remember that Kaver and Mariah will reinfest their
daughters in a blink.
Avian lices are species specific, only a few can survive in different
kind of hosts and mostly for short time. Lices and bird hosts have
evolved together, only close relatives species can have the same lice
species. The lice specialists can ID a bird with its lice only...
Mirta

------also , avian lice are different than the lice that humans can get ,
and very common. It would be strange to not find them (Liza O)