Avian malaria parasite infections do not affect personality in the chestnut thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Chun-lei Jing,
Ying-Qiang Lou,
Huan Liu,
Kai Song,
Yun Fang,
Jacob Höglund,
Peter Halvarsson,
Yue-Hua Sun
Affiliations
Chun-lei Jing
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Ying-Qiang Lou
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Huan Liu
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Kai Song
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Yun Fang
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Jacob Höglund
Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden
Peter Halvarsson
Unit of Parasitology, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7036, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden; Corresponding author.
Yue-Hua Sun
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; Corresponding author.
Personality traits, the consistent individual behavioral differences, are currently gaining much attention in studies of natural bird populations. However, associations between personality traits and parasite infections are not often investigated. Even less attention has been given to studies of birds in the high-elevation region such as the Tibetan plateau. This research aims to examine the relationship between avian malaria parasites and two personality traits in a population of the Chestnut Thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) breed in the Tibetan plateau.Our results revealed no evidence of sex bias in malaria parasite prevalence. Furthermore, we found no effect of infection status on two personality scores: activity and boldness. Additionally, no effects on the activity level or boldness were observed for different parasite lineages of Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, the sex of the birds, or their interactions. Similarly, we did not find any relationship between activity level and boldness with nestling numbers, sex, or their interactions. Notably, individuals with a larger number of offspring tended to display greater boldness. Our findings indicate that blood parasite infections are common in this population but do not significantly impact the personality of the birds.