| sunday canyon virus, a new ungrouped agent from the tick argas (a.) cooleyi in texas. | a new arbovirus was isolated from texas, u.s.a., populations of the cliff swallow parasits argas (argas) cooleyi kohls and hoogstraal, 1960. the virus, named sunday canyon, is serological urelated to any of 185 arbovirus strains or 20 other viral agents with which it was compared. morphologically it resembles bunyamwera viruses and, in common with them, is sensitive to lipid solvents and acid ph, and apparently possesses rna. although considerably resistant to a temperature of 41.5 degrees c, it ... | 1977 | 15436 |
| perception of cliff swallow calls by birds (hirundo pyrrhonota and sturnus vulgaris) and humans (homo sapiens). | we tested for species differences in the perception of the cliff swallow chick begging call. one cliff swallow (hirundo pyrrhonota), 3 european starling (sturnus vulgaris), and 3 human (homo sapiens) subjects were trained on go-no-go or repeating background tasks to discriminate between all possible stimulus pairs, measured by percentage of correct response and latency. we used multidimensional scaling to convert the similarity measures into a 2-dimensional map for each subject. most of the maps ... | 1992 | 1395493 |
| argas (argas) monolakensis, new species (acari: ixodoidea: argasidae), a parasite of california gulls on islands in mono lake, california: description, biology, and life cycle. | argas (argas) monolakensis, n. sp., is described from adults, nymphs, and larvae collected from under and around nests of california gulls, larus californicus lawrence, on islands in mono lake, mono county, calif., and from specimens reared in the laboratory. this species is closely related to a. cooleyi kohls & hoogstraal, a parasite of cliff swallows, hirundo pyrrhonota vieillot, but is easily distinguished by hypostome dentition and roof of haller's organ in all stages and chaetotaxy of the l ... | 1992 | 1552533 |
| recovery of tonate virus ("bijou bridge" strain), a member of the venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus complex, from cliff swallow nest bugs (oeciacus vicarius) and nestling birds in north america. | a second virus with distinct biological, serological, and physiochemical properties was detected as a minority viral subpopulation in specimens of cliff swallow nest bugs (oeciacus vicarius) and nestling bird sera containing fort morgan (fm) virus. the second virus, detected by a breakthrough neutralization test employing fm antiserum, was present in 5 of 11 fm virus-positive pools of nest bugs and in 4 of 38 birds from colorado and south dakota. the concentration of the second virus was 10-fold ... | 1980 | 7435797 |
| characterization of fort morgan virus, an alphavirus of the western equine encephalitis virus complex in an unusual ecosystem. | an alphavirus isolated from nestling cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrows (passer domesticus) and from cimicid bugs (oeciacus vicarius) in eastern colorado, for which we propose the name fort morgan (fm) virus, is sensitive to the action of sodium deoxycholate, unstable at ph 2.0-4.0, and demonstrates no characteristics of temperature-sensitive mutants. unpassaged field strains are nonpathogenic, or of low pathogenicity, for suckling mice; however, plaque-purified fm viru ... | 1980 | 7446830 |
| relationship of cliff swallows, ectoparasites, and an alphavirus in west-central oklahoma. | approximately 250 isolates of a newly recognized virus, related to western equine encephalitis virus (family togaviridae, genus alphavirus), were obtained from cimicid bugs, oeciacus vicarius; cliff swallows, hirundo pyrrhonata; and house sparrows, passer domesticus in a study area in west-central oklahoma at buggy creek and caddo canyons. antigenicity of the virus strains varied slightly from isolate to isolate. this paper summarizes the ecology of the area by describing in general the flora an ... | 1993 | 8381870 |
| arbovirus infection increases with group size. | buggy creek (bcr) virus is an arthropod-borne alphavirus that is naturally transmitted to its vertebrate host the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) by an invertebrate vector, namely the cimicid swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius). we examined how the prevalence of the virus varied with the group size of both its vector and host. the study was conducted in southwestern nebraska where cliff swallows breed in colonies ranging from one to 3700 nests and the bug populations at a site vary directly ... | 2001 | 11522203 |
| mosquito abundance is correlated with cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) colony size. | we measured the abundance of mosquitoes [primarily aedes vexans (meigen) and culex tarsalis coquillett] at cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota vieillot) colonies of different sizes in southwestern nebraska in 1999. using co2 traps placed inside and outside of colonies, we found that total mosquito abundance increased significantly with the number of active cliff swallow nests at a colony site. we found no effect of date or weather conditions on the number of mosquitoes caught it the differen ... | 2002 | 11931242 |
| phylogenetic characterization of wolbachia symbionts infecting cimex lectularius l. and oeciacus vicarius horvath (hemiptera: cimicidae). | wolbachia symbionts are obligate intracellular bacteria that cause host reproductive alterations in many arthropods and filarial nematodes. we identified wolbachia symbionts in the cliff swallow bug (oeciacus vicarious horvath) and the human bed bug (cimex lectularius l.) (hemiptera: cimicidae) by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) amplification and sequencing using wolbachia-specific 16s rdna and ftsz primers. phylogenetic analyses using bayesian, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony algorith ... | 2004 | 15605657 |
| between-group transmission dynamics of the swallow bug, oeciacus vicarius. | the parasitic cimicid swallow bug, oeciacus vicarius, is the principal invertebrate vector for buggy creek virus (bcrv) and has also been associated with venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. to help understand the spread of this vector, we experimentally measured the transmission of o. vicarius between groups (colonies) of its main host, the cliff swallow (petrochelidonpyrrhonota), in the field. transmission of bugs between colonies varied significantly with year, size of the colony, and week w ... | 2005 | 16007968 |
| biomarkers of exposure and effects of environmental contaminants on swallows nesting along the rio grande, texas, usa. | we collected adult cave swallows (petrochelidon fulva) and cliff swallows (p. pyrrhonota) during the breeding seasons in 1999 and 2000 from eight locations along the rio grande from brownsville to el paso (unless otherwise specified, all locations are texas, usa) and an out-of-basin reference location. body mass, spleen mass, hepatosomatic index (hsi), gonadosomatic index (gsi), thyroxine (t4) in plasma, dna damage measured as the half-peak coefficient of variation of dna content (hpcv) in blood ... | 2006 | 16764476 |
| phylogenetic analysis of buggy creek virus: evidence for multiple clades in the western great plains, united states of america. | we present the first detailed phylogenetic analysis of buggy creek virus (bcrv), a poorly known alphavirus with transmission cycles involving a cimicid swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius) vector and cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrows (passer domesticus) as the principal avian hosts. nucleotide sequences of a 2,075-bp viral envelope glycoprotein-coding region, covering the entire pe2 gene, were determined for 33 bcrv isolates taken from swallow bugs at cliff swallow colonies ... | 2006 | 16936062 |
| ecological correlates of buggy creek virus infection in oeciacus vicarius, southwestern nebraska, 2004. | buggy creek virus (family togaviridae, genus alphavirus, bcrv) is an alphavirus within the western equine encephalitis virus complex whose primary vector is the swallow bug, oeciacus vicarius horvath (hemiptera: cimicidae), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting cliff swallow, petrochelidon pyrrhonota, that is also a frequent host for the virus. we investigated ecological correlates of bcrv infection in 100-bug pools at 14 different swallow colony sites in southwestern nebraska from summer 20 ... | 2007 | 17294919 |
| bird movement predicts buggy creek virus infection in insect vectors. | predicting the spatial foci of zoonotic diseases is a major challenge for epidemiologists and disease ecologists. migratory birds are often thought to be responsible for introducing some aviozoonotic pathogens such as west nile and avian influenza viruses to a local area, but most information on how bird movement correlates with virus prevalence is anecdotal or indirect. we report that the prevalence of buggy creek virus (bcrv) infection in cimicid swallow bugs (oeciacus vicarius), the principal ... | 2007 | 17760513 |
| experimental inoculation of house sparrows (passer domesticus) with buggy creek virus. | we performed experimental inoculations of house sparrows (passer domesticus) with buggy creek virus (bcrv), a poorly known alphavirus (togaviridae) vectored primarily by the swallow bug (hemiptera: cimicidae: oeciacus vicarius) that is an ectoparasite of the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrow. viremias were detected by plaque assay in two of six birds on days 1-3 postinoculation; viremia was highest on day 2. viral rna was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chai ... | 2008 | 18436665 |
| phylogeographical structure and evolutionary history of two buggy creek virus lineages in the western great plains of north america. | buggy creek virus (bcrv) is an unusual arbovirus within the western equine encephalitis complex of alphaviruses. associated with cimicid swallow bugs (oeciacus vicarius) as its vector and the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrow (passer domesticus) as its amplifying hosts, this virus is found primarily in the western great plains of north america at spatially discrete swallow nesting colonies. for 342 isolates collected in oklahoma, nebraska, colorado and north dakota, from ... | 2008 | 18753221 |
| isolation of buggy creek virus (togaviridae: alphavirus) from field-collected eggs of oeciacus vicarius (hemiptera: cimicidae). | alphaviruses (togaviridae) rarely have been found to be vertically transmitted from female arthropods to their progeny. we report two isolations of buggy creek virus (bcrv), an ecologically unusual alphavirus related to western equine encephalomyelitis virus, from field-collected eggs of cimicid swallow bugs (oeciacus vicarius horvath), the principal vector for bcrv. ten percent of egg pools were positive for bcrv, and we estimated minimum infection rates to be 1.03 infected eggs per 1,000 teste ... | 2009 | 19351091 |
| overwintering of infectious buggy creek virus (togaviridae: alphavirus) in oeciacus vicarius (hemiptera: cimicidae) in north dakota. | arboviruses have seldom been found overwintering in adult vectors at northern latitudes in north america. buggy creek virus (bcrv; togaviridae, alphavirus) is an ecologically unusual arbovirus vectored principally by the cimicid swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius horvath). the ectoparasitic bugs reside year-round in the mud nests of their host, the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota vieillot). we report successful overwintering of infectious bcrv in bugs at a field site in western north dakota, ... | 2009 | 19351093 |
| winter ecology of buggy creek virus (togaviridae, alphavirus) in the central great plains. | a largely unanswered question in the study of arboviruses is the extent to which virus can overwinter in adult vectors during the cold winter months and resume the transmission cycle in summer. buggy creek virus (bcrv; togaviridae, alphavirus) is an unusual arbovirus that is vectored primarily by the swallow bug (hemiptera: cimicidae: oeciacus vicarius) and amplified by the ectoparasitic bug's main avian hosts, the migratory cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and resident house sparrow (pa ... | 2010 | 19725760 |
| stone lakes virus (family togaviridae, genus alphavirus), a variant of fort morgan virus isolated from swallow bugs (hemiptera: cimicidae) west of the continental divide. | multiple isolates of an alphaviruses within the western equine encephalomyelitis-serocomplex that were related closely to ft. morgan and its variant buggy creek virus were made from swallow bugs, oeciacus vicarius horvath (hemiptera: cimicidae), collected from cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) nests at the stone lakes national wildlife refuge, sacramento county, ca, during the summers of 2005 and 2006. this virus (hereafter stone lakes virus, family togaviridae, genus alphavirus, stlv) wa ... | 2009 | 19769055 |
| ecological divergence of two sympatric lineages of buggy creek virus, an arbovirus associated with birds. | most arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) show distinct serological subtypes or evolutionary lineages, with the evolution of different strains often assumed to reflect differences in ecological selection pressures. buggy creek virus (bcrv) is an unusual rna virus (togaviridae, alphavirus) that is associated primarily with a cimicid swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius) as its vector and the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced house sparrow (passer domesticus) as its amplifying ... | 2009 | 19967872 |
| experimental infection of cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) with varying doses of west nile virus. | cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) were inoculated with differing doses of west nile virus (wnv) to evaluate their potential role as reservoir hosts in nature. swallows often nest in large colonies in habitats and months associated with high mosquito abundance and early wnv transmission in north america. additionally, cliff swallow diet consists of insects, including mosquitoes, leading to an additional potential route of wnv infection. the average peak viremia titer among infected cliff ... | 2009 | 19996452 |
| cliff swallows, swallow bugs, and west nile virus: an unlikely transmission mechanism. | the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) could play an important role in the transmission of west nile virus (wnv) because of its breeding ecology, reservoir competence status, and potentially high natural exposure rates. cliff swallows nest within colonies and their nests are occupied year-round by swallow bugs (oeciacus vicarius), hematophagus ectoparasites that feed primarily on cliff swallows. these parasites are likely exposed to wnv while feeding on infectious blood of nesting cliff sw ... | 2010 | 20017719 |
| pathology and virus detection in tissues of nestling house sparrows naturally infected with buggy creek virus (togaviridae). | alphaviruses (togaviridae) infect wild birds, but clinical illness and death attributable to virus in naturally infected birds is rarely reported, particularly for small passerine species or nestlings. buggy creek virus is a unique alphavirus in the western equine encephalomyelitis virus (weev) complex that is vectored by the cimicid swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced house sparrow (passer domesti ... | 2010 | 20090015 |
| natural infection of vertebrate hosts by different lineages of buggy creek virus (family togaviridae, genus alphavirus). | buggy creek virus (bcrv; family togaviridae, genus alphavirus) is an arbovirus transmitted by the ectoparasitic swallow bug (hemiptera: cimicidae: oeciacus vicarius) to cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrows (passer domesticus). bcrv occurs in two lineages (a and b) that are sympatric in bird nesting colonies in the central great plains, usa. previous work on lineages isolated exclusively from swallow bugs suggested that lineage a relies on amplification by avian hosts, in ... | 2010 | 20229115 |
| persistence of buggy creek virus (togaviridae, alphavirus) for two years in unfed swallow bugs (hemiptera: cimicidae: oeciacus vicarius). | alphaviruses (togaviridae) have rarely been found to persist for long in the adult insects that serve as their vectors. the ectoparasitic swallow bug (hemiptera: cimicidae: oeciacus vicarius horvath), the vector for buggy creek virus (bcrv; togaviridae, alphavirus), lives year-round in the mud nests of its host, the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota vieillot). we measured the prevalence of bcrv in swallow bugs at sites with cliff swallows present and at the same sites after cliff swallows ... | 2010 | 20496591 |
| an enzootic vector-borne virus is amplified at epizootic levels by an invasive avian host. | determining the effect of an invasive species on enzootic pathogen dynamics is critical for understanding both human epidemics and wildlife epizootics. theoretical models suggest that when a naive species enters an established host-parasite system, the new host may either reduce ('dilute') or increase ('spillback') pathogen transmission to native hosts. there are few empirical data to evaluate these possibilities, especially for animal pathogens. buggy creek virus (bcrv) is an arthropod-borne al ... | 2011 | 20685711 |
| experimental exposure of swallow bugs (hemiptera: cimicidae) to west nile virus. | the cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota, vieillot) could potentially play an important role in the transmission of west nile virus (wnv) because of its breeding ecology, reservoir competence status, and potentially high natural exposure rates. these birds nest in colonies and their nests are occupied year round by swallow bugs (oeciacus vicarius, hovarth), hematophagus ectoparasites that feed primarily on cliff swallows. swallow bugs are most likely exposed to wnv while feeding on infectious ... | 2010 | 20939387 |
| Group size and nest spacing affect Buggy Creek virus (Togaviridae: Alphavirus) infection in nestling house sparrows. | The transmission of parasites and pathogens among vertebrates often depends on host population size, host species diversity, and the extent of crowding among potential hosts, but little is known about how these variables apply to most vector-borne pathogens such as the arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses). Buggy Creek virus (BCRV; Togaviridae: Alphavirus) is an RNA arbovirus transmitted by the swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius) to the cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced hou ... | 2011 | 21966539 |
| prevalence of buggy creek virus (togaviridae: alphavirus) in insect vectors increases over time in the presence of an invasive avian host. | abstract invasive species can disrupt natural disease dynamics by altering pathogen transmission among native hosts and vectors. the relatively recent occupancy of cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) nesting colonies in western nebraska by introduced european house sparrows (passer domesticus) has led to yearly increases in the prevalence of an endemic arbovirus, buggy creek virus (bcrv), in its native swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius) vector at sites containing both the invasive sparrow ho ... | 2011 | 21923265 |
| seasonal variation and age-related correlates of buggy creek virus (togaviridae) infection in nestling house sparrows. | wild birds are rarely found with active arbovirus infections, and relatively little is known about the patterns of viremia they exhibit under field conditions or how infection varies with date, bird age, or other factors that potentially affect transmission dynamics. buggy creek virus (bcrv; togaviridae, alphavirus) is an arbovirus associated with colonially nesting cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and transmitted by its vector, the hematophagous swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius), an ecto ... | 2012 | 22247382 |
| immune responses of a native and an invasive bird to buggy creek virus (togaviridae: alphavirus) and its arthropod vector, the swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius). | invasive species often display different patterns of parasite burden and virulence compared to their native counterparts. these differences may be the result of variability in host-parasite co-evolutionary relationships, the occurrence of novel host-parasite encounters, or possibly innate differences in physiological responses to infection between invasive and native hosts. here we examine the adaptive, humoral immune responses of a resistant, native bird and a susceptible, invasive bird to an a ... | 2013 | 23460922 |
| familiarity with breeding habitat improves daily survival in colonial cliff swallows. | one probable cost of dispersing to a new breeding habitat is unfamiliarity with local conditions such as the whereabouts of food or the habits of local predators, and consequently immigrants may have lower probabilities of survival than more experienced residents. within a breeding season, estimated daily survival probabilities of cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) at colonies in southwestern nebraska were highest for birds that had always nested at the same site, followed by those for bi ... | 0 | 19802326 |
| dispersing hemipteran vectors have reduced arbovirus prevalence. | a challenge in managing vector-borne zoonotic diseases in human and wildlife populations is predicting where epidemics or epizootics are likely to occur, and this requires knowing in part the likelihood of infected insect vectors dispersing pathogens from existing infection foci to novel areas. we measured prevalence of an arbovirus, buggy creek virus, in dispersing and resident individuals of its exclusive vector, the ectoparasitic swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius), that occupies cliff swallow (p ... | 2014 | 24694692 |
| predation by ants controls swallow bug (hemiptera: cimicidae: oeciacus vicarius) infestations. | the swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius) is the only known vector for buggy creek virus (bcrv), an alphavirus that circulates in cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and house sparrows (passer domesticus) in north america. we discovered ants (crematogaster lineolata and formica spp.) preying on swallow bugs at cliff swallow colonies in western nebraska, u.s.a. ants reduced the numbers of visible bugs on active swallow nests by 74-90%, relative to nests in the same colony without ants. ant predat ... | 2015 | 26047195 |
| host and vector movement affects genetic diversity and spatial structure of buggy creek virus (togaviridae). | determining the degree of genetic variability and spatial structure of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) may help in identifying where strains that potentially cause epidemics or epizootics occur. genetic diversity in arboviruses is assumed to reflect relative mobility of their vertebrate hosts (and invertebrate vectors), with highly mobile hosts such as birds leading to genetic similarity of viruses over large areas. there are no empirical studies that have directly related host or vector m ... | 2008 | 18373533 |
| a field study on the effects of fort morgan virus, an arbovirus transmitted by swallow bugs, on the reproductive success of cliff swallows and symbiotic house sparrows in morgan county, colorado, 1976. | we studied the transmission of fort morgan (fm) virus within colonies of nesting cliff swallows and house sparrows under three bridges in morgan county, colorado during 1976. nests were examined, and blood or brain specimens were collected from nestlings once or twice a week. flying birds and small mammals were also studied. we analyzed nesting activity, virus isolations from nestlings of both species, fledging success, multiple infections within a brood of nestlings, infection frequency by age ... | 1984 | 6091471 |
| conjunctivitis, rhinitis, and sinusitis in cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) found in association with mycoplasma sturni infection and cryptosporidiosis. | fledgling cliff swallows were cared for at a rehabilitation facility when clinical signs of ocular disease, characterized by conjunctivitis, epiphora, and hyperaemia of palpebrae and nictitans, were recognized. treatment consisted of topical and oral antibiotic therapy and one topical steroid administration. however, one cliff swallow died and three were killed due to poor therapeutic response. conjunctival swabs were obtained ante-mortem from the three cliff swallows and were submitted for myco ... | 2012 | 22834555 |
| irrigation and avifaunal change in coastal northwest mexico: has irrigated habit attracted threatened migratory species? | irrigation in desert ecosystems can either reduce or increase species diversity. groundwater pumping often lowers water tables and reduces natural wetlands, whereas canal irrigation often creates mesic habitat, resulting in great increases in avian diversity from irrigation. here we compare a dataset of potential natural vegetation to recent datasets from areal and satellite imagery to show that 60% of the land in the coastal plain of southern sonora and northern sinaloa lying below 200 m elevat ... | 2015 | 26312181 |
| effects of bridge construction on songbirds and small mammals at blennerhassett island, ohio river, usa. | construction of man-made objects such as roads and bridges may have impacts on wildlife depending on species or location. we investigated songbirds and small mammals along the ohio river, wv, usa at a new bridge both before and after construction and at a bridge crossing that was present throughout the study. comparisons were made at each site over three time periods (1985-1987 [phase i] and 1998-2000 [phase ii] [pre-construction], 2007-2009 [phase iii] [post-construction]) and at three distance ... | 2013 | 23435850 |
| isospora petrochelidon sp. n. (protozoa: eimeriidae) from the cliff swallow, petrochelidon pyrrhonota. | | 1972 | 5032221 |
| using collision cones to assess biological deconfliction methods. | biological systems consistently outperform autonomous systems governed by engineered algorithms in their ability to reactively avoid collisions. to better understand this discrepancy, a collision avoidance algorithm was applied to frames of digitized video trajectory data from bats, swallows and fish (myotis velifer, petrochelidon pyrrhonota and danio aequipinnatus). information available from visual cues, specifically relative position and velocity, was provided to the algorithm which used this ... | 2016 | 27655669 |
| the incidence of american swallow bugs (oeciacus vicarius) in barn swallow (hirundo rustica) colonies in northeast texas. | the american swallow bug (oeciacus vicarius) is an important ectoparasite of cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and is known to harbor several types of arbovirus. a recent study in northeast texas suggested that o. vicarius might occur in barn swallows (hirundo rustica) at rates much higher than previously thought. the purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which barn swallows in northeast texas are parasitized by o. vicarius and how well this parasite is adapting to this no ... | 2007 | 18260518 |
| acoustic adaptations for parent-offspring recognition in swallows. | we have used field and laboratory studies to investigate acoustic adaptations for parent-offspring recognition in two closely related pairs of swallows: (a) bank swallow (riparia riparia) and northern rough-winged swallow (stelgidopteryx serripennis), and (b) cliff swallow (hirundo pyrrhonota) and barn swallow (hirundo rustica). cross-fostering and playback experiments show that bank swallow and cliff swallow parents recognize their offspring by voice while rough-winged swallow and barn swallow ... | 1986 | 3525221 |
| regional variation and relationships between the contaminants dde and selenium and stable isotopes in swallows nesting along the rio grande and one reference site, texas, usa. | cave swallows (petrochelidon fulva) and cliff swallows (p. pyrrhonota) nest in numerous colonies throughout the texas portion of the rio grande along the u.s. border with mexico. we collected swallows during 1999 and 2000 from eight locations along the rio grande to determine if delta15n and delta13c values could be used to predict 1,1-di-(p-chlorophenyl-)2,2-dichloroethene (dde) and selenium (se) contaminant burdens in insectivorous birds nesting across a geographic gradient in the texas-mexico ... | 2005 | 15823858 |
| no detectable insecticide resistance in swallow bugs (hemiptera: cimicidae) following long-term exposure to naled (dibrom 8). | the swallow bug, oeciacus vicarius horvath, is a hematophagous ectoparasite of the cliff swallow, petrochelidon pyrrhonota vieillot, and is closely related to bed bugs (cimex spp.). evolution of insecticide resistance has been documented for bed bugs but not studied in oeciacus. for periods of 17 and 32 yr, two cliff swallow colonies in western nebraska were treated during the summer breeding season using the organophosphate insecticide dibrom. despite continual treatments, o. vicarius has been ... | 2017 | 28399289 |
| fluctuating survival selection explains variation in avian group size. | most animal groups vary extensively in size. because individuals in certain sizes of groups often have higher apparent fitness than those in other groups, why wide group size variation persists in most populations remains unexplained. we used a 30-y mark-recapture study of colonially breeding cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) to show that the survival advantages of different colony sizes fluctuated among years. colony size was under both stabilizing and directional selection in different ... | 2016 | 27091998 |
| ectoparasitism shortens the breeding season in a colonial bird. | when blood-feeding parasites increase seasonally, their deleterious effects may prevent some host species, especially those living in large groups where parasites are numerous, from reproducing later in the summer. yet the role of parasites in regulating the length of a host's breeding season-and thus the host's opportunity for multiple brooding-has not been systematically investigated. the highly colonial cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota), a temperate-latitude migratory songbird in the w ... | 2015 | 26064606 |
| costs and benefits of late nesting in cliff swallows. | many organisms of temperate latitudes exhibit declines in reproductive success as the breeding season advances. experiments can delay the onset of reproduction for early breeders to investigate the consequences of late nesting, but it is rarely possible to observe a distinct second round of nesting in species that normally nest only once. the colonial cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) is a migratory songbird that has a relatively short breeding season in the western great plains, usa, wit ... | 2015 | 25266478 |
| the mechanics and behavior of cliff swallows during tandem flights. | cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) are highly maneuverable social birds that often forage and fly in large open spaces. here we used multi-camera videography to measure the three-dimensional kinematics of their natural flight maneuvers in the field. specifically, we collected data on tandem flights, defined as two birds maneuvering together. these data permit us to evaluate several hypotheses on the high-speed maneuvering flight performance of birds. we found that high-speed turns are rol ... | 2014 | 24855672 |
| fluctuating viability selection on morphology of cliff swallows is driven by climate. | the extent to which fluctuating selection can maintain evolutionary stasis in most populations remains an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. climate has been hypothesized to drive reversals in the direction of selection among different time periods and may also be responsible for intense episodic selection caused by rare weather events. we measured viability selection associated with morphological traits in cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western nebraska, usa, over a 14-y ... | 2013 | 23510182 |
| recapture heterogeneity in cliff swallows: increased exposure to mist nets leads to net avoidance. | ecologists often use mark-recapture to estimate demographic variables such as abundance, growth rate, or survival for samples of wild animal populations. a common assumption underlying mark-recapture is that all animals have an equal probability of detection, and failure to meet or correct for this assumption-as when certain members of the population are either easier or more difficult to capture than other animals-can lead to biased and inaccurate demographic estimates. we built within-year and ... | 2013 | 23472138 |
| heritable choice of colony size in cliff swallows: does experience trump genetics in older birds? | the variation in breeding-colony size seen in populations of most colonial birds may reflect heritable choices made by individuals who are phenotypically specialized for particular social environments. although a few studies have reported evidence for genetically based choice of group sizes in birds, we know relatively little about the extent to which animals potentially rely on experience versus innate preferences in deciding with how many conspecifics to settle at different times of their live ... | 2011 | 22247565 |
| potential effects of environmental contaminants on p450 aromatase activity and dna damage in swallows from the rio grande and somerville, texas. | cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and cave swallows (p. fulva) were sampled during the breeding season at several locations in the rio grande, texas, to evaluate the potential effects of environmental contaminants on p450 aromatase activity in brain and gonads and dna damage in blood cells. the tritiated water-release aromatase assay was used to measure aromatase activity and flow cytometry was used to measure dna damage in nucleated blood cells. there were no significant differences in ... | 2009 | 18670880 |
| cliff swallows petrochelidon pyrrhonota as bioindicators of environmental mercury, cache creek watershed, california. | to evaluate mercury (hg) and other element exposure in cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota), eggs were collected from 16 sites within the mining-impacted cache creek watershed, colusa, lake, and yolo counties, california, usa, in 1997-1998. nestlings were collected from seven sites in 1998. geometric mean total hg (thg) concentrations ranged from 0.013 to 0.208 microg/g wet weight (ww) in cliff swallow eggs and from 0.047 to 0.347 microg/g ww in nestlings. mercury detected in eggs generally ... | 2008 | 18166988 |
| testosterone and group size in cliff swallows: testing the "challenge hypothesis" in a colonial bird. | the "challenge hypothesis" states that increases in testosterone levels of male animals during the breeding season are directly related to the extent of intrasexual competition for resources or mates that they experience. although often tested in territorial species, the challenge hypothesis has not been evaluated for colonial animals that live in groups of different sizes and that thus experience different intensities of intrasexual competition. we measured circulating testosterone levels of ma ... | 2005 | 15579268 |
| spleen volume varies with colony size and parasite load in a colonial bird. | comparisons across bird species have indicated that those more exposed to parasites and pathogens invest more in immunological defence, as measured by spleen size. we investigated how spleen volume varied with colony size, parasite load and an individual's colony-size history in the cliff swallow, petrochelidon pyrrhonota, a colonial passerine bird of north america. we used a sample of over 1700 birds that had all died during a period of inclement weather in 1996. we experimentally manipulated e ... | 2002 | 12079660 |
| cliff swallows and the power of behavioral ecology. | | 2001 | 11136244 |
| heritable basis for choice of group size in a colonial bird. | sizes of most kinds of animal groups vary considerably within a population, with group size often causing direct effects on the fitness of group members. although the consequences of varying group size have been well studied, the causes of variation in group size remain poorly known for most animals. groups might vary in size because different individuals perform better in differently sized groups and thus have genetic predispositions to choose large or small groups. we examined whether heritabl ... | 2000 | 11121081 |
| evaluation of selection on cliff swallows. | estimates of the intensity of selection based on measurements of the living and the dead require knowledge of the fraction of the original population dying. we apply recently developed methods (blanckenhorn et al. 1999) to estimate the intensity of selection in a population of cliff swallows. in this population the fraction of individuals dying was unknown, but certainly high. the inferred selection is very strong and impossible to achieve if the original population is assumed to have followed a ... | 2000 | 11108610 |
| nest spacing in relation to settlement time in colonial cliff swallows. | how colonial animals space their nests in relation to conspecifics may provide clues as to whether coloniality provides net benefits or occurs only because breeding sites are limited. we examined how nearest-neighbour distance varied in relation to settlement time in the highly colonial cliff swallow, petrochelidon pyrrhonota, comparing observed nearest-neighbour distances to those expected if birds spread out to maximize nest spacing. cliff swallows generally settled closer to each other than r ... | 2000 | 10640366 |
| intense natural selection on body size and wing and tail asymmetry in cliff swallows during severe weather. | extreme climatic disturbances provide excellent opportunities to study natural selection in wild populations because they may cause measurable directional shifts in character traits. insectivorous cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in the northern great plains must often endure periods of cold weather in late spring that reduce food availability, and if cold spells last four or more days, mortality due to starvation may result. we analyzed morphological shifts associated with viability se ... | 1998 | 28565386 |
| description of the immature stages of ixodes (pholeoixodes) baergi (acari: ixodidae), a parasite of cliff swallows in the united states. | the larva and nymph of ixodes (pholeoixodes) baergi cooley & kohls are described for the first time. this tick has been collected only in the united states on cliff swallows, hirundo pyrrhonota, in their nests, or in adjacent habitats. to date, it has been reported from arkansas, colorado, illinois, oklahoma, and texas. brief notes on the synchronization of the life cycle of i. baergi with that of its host are included. | 1993 | 8360896 |
| the cliff swallow bug oeciacus vicarius (hemiptera: cimicidae) in florida: ectoparasite implications for hole-nesting birds. | in may 1988, ten juvenile birds, not yet ready to fledge, jumped to their death from a colony of the purple martin, progne subis near okeechobee city, florida. the martin house and nestlings were found to be infested with ectoparasitic oeciacus vicarius horvath, the cliff swallow bug, not previously reported from florida. this ectoparasite infestation apparently led to early abandonment of two houses by the adult martins. oeciacus vicarius therefore represents a possible threat to all hole-nesti ... | 1991 | 1773130 |
| cliff swallow colonies as information centers. | colonies of cliff swallows (aves: hirundo pyrrhonota) appear to be information centers in which colony residents acquire information on the location of food sources. individuals that have been unsuccessful on a foraging trip return to the colony, locate a successful forager, and follow that individual to a food source. individuals often follow, and are followed by, their neighbors within the colony, possibly because neighbors can observe foraging success through food brought back to nestlings. a ... | 1986 | 17742636 |
| laying eggs in a neighbor's nest: benefit and cost of colonial nesting in swallows. | intraspecific brood parasitism (laying eggs in another's nest) occurs widely in colonial cliff swallows (passeriformes: hirundinidae: hirundo pyrrhonota). in colonies consisting of more than ten nests, up to 24 percent of the nests were sometimes parasitized by colony members. laying eggs in a conspecific's nest may be a benefit of coloniality for parasitic individuals and simultaneously may represent a cost to host individuals within the same colony. | 1984 | 17753777 |
| the natural invasion of artificial cliff swallow nests by oeciacus vicarius (hemiptera: cimicidae) and ceratophyllus petrochelidoni (siphonaptera: ceratophyllidae). | | 1968 | 5749057 |
| blood parasitism in cliff swallows from the sacramento valley. | | 1966 | 4961336 |
| hematophagous ectoparasites of cliff swallows invade a hospital and feed on humans. | we describe a hospital infestation by 2 hematophagous ectoparasites of cliff swallows that nested in the window eaves. breaks in window seals allowed entry of swallow ticks and swallow bugs. these pests emerged in large numbers in patient rooms, hallways, and stairwells; 17% of the ticks fed on humans. | 2017 | 29194525 |
| mercury exposure to swallows breeding in canada inferred from feathers grown on breeding and non-breeding grounds. | aerial insectivorous birds such as swallows have been the steepest declining groups of birds in north america over the last 50 years but whether such declines are linked to contaminants has not been examined. we sampled feathers from five species of swallow at multiple locations to assess total mercury [thg] exposure for adults during the non-breeding season, and for juveniles on the breeding grounds. we assessed hg exposure to juvenile birds in crop- and grass-dominated landscapes to determine ... | 2020 | 32656653 |
| high costs of infection: alphavirus infection reduces digestive function and bone and feather growth in nestling house sparrows (passer domesticus). | increasingly, ecoimmunology studies aim to use relevant pathogen exposure to examine the impacts of infection on physiological processes in wild animals. alphaviruses are arthropod-borne, single-stranded rna (ssrna) viruses ("arboviruses") responsible for millions of cases of human illnesses each year. buggy creek virus (bcrv) is a unique alphavirus that is transmitted by a cimicid insect, the swallow bug, and is amplified in two avian species: the house sparrow (passer domesticus) and the cliff ... | 2018 | 29624598 |
| feather mites of the genus trouessartia canestrini (acariformes: trouessartiidae) from swallows (passeriformes: hirundinidae) in canada. | seven species of the feather mite genus trouessartia canestrini, 1899 (astigmata: trouessartiidae) have been recorded on swallows and martins (passeriformes: hirundinidae) in manitoba (canada). of them, five are described as new species: trouessartia ampulicaudata sp. n. and t. petrochelidon sp. n. from the american cliff swallow petrochelidon pyrrhonota (vieillot), t. bochkovi sp. n. from the tree swallow tachycineta bicolor (vieillot), and t. cryptocaudata sp. n. and t. progne sp. n. from the ... | 2019 | 31715868 |
| ecological correlates of group integrity among dispersing cliff swallows. | breeding colonies of birds represent groups of individuals that associate during one breeding season, at least partially dissociate for the non-breeding season, and may re-associate the next year through collective settlement at another breeding site. little is known about the extent to which colonial birds maintain group integrity when occupying different sites in different years or the benefits of long-term associations among colonial individuals. for cliff swallows (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) ... | 2019 | 33042598 |
| smaller brained cliff swallows are more likely to die during harsh weather. | the cognitive-buffer hypothesis proposes that more harsh and unpredictable environments favour animals with larger brains and resulting greater cognitive skills. comparisons across taxa have supported the hypothesis, but it has rarely been tested within a species. we measured brain size, as inferred from head dimensions, for 1141 cliff swallow specimens collected in western nebraska, 1982-2018. cliff swallows starving to death during unusual late-spring cold snaps had significantly smaller brain ... | 2020 | 32673545 |
| variation in neophobia among cliff swallows at different colonies. | animal groups often represent nonrandom subsets of individuals, and increasing evidence indicates that individuals may sort among groups based on their personalities. the size of a group can predict its personality composition in some species due to differential suitability of a personality for groups of certain sizes, and the group itself may function more effectively if particular personality types are present. we quantified cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) behavioral measures using li ... | 2019 | 31869383 |
| why come back home? breeding-site fidelity varies with group size and parasite load in a colonial bird. | fidelity to a past breeding site is widespread among animals and may confer both costs and benefits. colonial species occur at specific sites that can accommodate multiple breeders, and the choice of whether to return to last year's site or disperse elsewhere can affect colony site use, the colony size distribution and individual fitness. for the colonial cliff swallow, petrochelidon pyrrhonota, which occupies colonies of widely different sizes, we used a 30-year field study in western nebraska ... | 2017 | 29662246 |
| parasites favour intermediate nestling mass and brood size in cliff swallows. | a challenge of life-history theory is to explain why animal body size does not continue to increase, given various advantages of larger size. in birds, body size of nestlings and the number of nestlings produced (brood size) have occasionally been shown to be constrained by higher predation on larger nestlings and those from larger broods. parasites also are known to have strong effects on life-history traits in birds, but whether parasitism can be a driver for stabilizing selection on nestling ... | 2018 | 29194840 |
| variation in age composition among colony sizes in cliff swallows. | variation in group size is characteristic of most social species. the extent to which individuals sort among group sizes based on age may yield insight into why groups vary in size and the age-specific costs and benefits of different social environments. we investigated the age composition of cliff swallow (petrochelidon pyrrhonota) colonies of different sizes over 18 years at a long-term study site in western nebraska, usa. using years elapsed since banding as a relative measure of age for over ... | 2014 | 29628606 |