Avian Malaria Parasite Infections Does Not Affect Personality in the Chestnut Thrush ( Turdus rubrocanus) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

Personality traits, consistent individual behavioural differences, are currently gathering much attention in studies of natural bird populations. However, associations between personality traits and parasite infections are not often reported, and studies of birds on the high-altitude Tibetan plateau are even more unreported. This study examines the relationship between avian malaria parasites and two personality traits in a population of chestnut thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) breeding in the Tibetan plateau.

Our results showed no evidence of sex bias in malaria parasite prevalence. No effect of infection status was found on two personality scores: activity and boldness. Furthermore, no effects on activity or boldness of the different parasite lineages of Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, the sex of the birds and their interactions were found. We also did not find any relationship between activity and boldness of nestling numbers, sex and their interactions, but individuals with larger number of offspring tended to be bolder, although this relationship was weak. Our findings indicate that blood parasite infections are common in this population, but do not significantly impact bird personality of the studied birds.

Keywords: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, host-parasite interactions, breathing rate, activity, avian malaria lineages