Feather mites and birds have a unique relationship: the mites help birds keep their feathers healthy by removing bacteria and fungi, while the birds collect food for mites to eat, according to new research out of the University of Alberta.
“Until we published this paper, our understanding of feather mites’ diet was limited to scattered observations that their guts often contained fungal spores,” said U of A biologist Heather Proctor. “We concluded that vane-dwelling feather mites do not eat feathers. Rather, they feed mainly on fungi and bacteria that get caught in or grow on the feathers.”
There are more than 2,500 species of feather mites that live inside the hollow quills of feathers, in the fluffy down and on the vanes of wing and tail feathers.
Until this study, vane-dwelling mites have often been assumed to be parasitic, like feather lice, which are harmful to birds.
Continue reading at University of Alberta.
Image via University of Alberta.