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2026 Poster Session C

C12 - Investigating associations between foraging behavior and blood parasite infection risk in birds

Birds in North America have been facing a decline in their populations (Rosenburg et al., 2019).

2026 Poster Session C

C12 - Investigating associations between foraging behavior and blood parasite infection risk in birds

Mentor: Ryan Shannon, Ph.D.

Birds in North America have been facing a decline in their populations (Rosenburg et al., 2019). One facet that has not been well-explored as an explanation to this problem is parasite prevalence. Parasites can have diverse and harmful effects on bird health (Alvardo-Piqueras et al., 2025; Martín-Maldonado et al., 2023). Bird life history traits, as well as parasite vector life history traits, can impact the prevalence of parasites within birds (Astudillo et al., 2013; McGregor et al., 2018) . This study focuses on the relationship between different bird species' foraging heights and niches and thier relationship to parasite prevalence.

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