Health Assessment of Birds of Prey (Aves, Falconiformes, Strigiformes) in Argentina: An Overview of Recent Advances and Future Challenges

MIGUEL D. SAGGESE; AGUSTÍN IE. QUAGLIA

Fort Collins, Colorado

Encuentro; Raptor Research Foundation Annual Meeting; 2010

Raptor Research Fundation

Birds of prey (orders Falconiformes and Estrigiformes) are host for a wide range of macroparasites and microparasites. A large number are well known pathogens capable of causing disease, breeding failure and death in free-ranging birds. However, the population impact of infectious and parasitic diseases on birds of prey has received limited attention and remains poorly understood. Worldwide, most studies have emphasized availability of food, loss of habitat, persecution and environmental pollutants as main causes for demographic changes and population decline in these birds. For most of the 85 species of birds of prey inhabiting Argentina, their feeding and breeding ecology, population status and conservation threats have not been evaluated. Consequently, their health status and the role of macroparasites and microparasites on their populations also remain basically unknown. Limited advances in the knowledge of the health status of Argentinean birds of prey have been made in recent years, driven by the increased interest of wildlife biologists and veterinarians on the emergence and reemergence of diseases associated with human population growth, environmental changes and encroachment of wildlife. In the following decades, conservation of argentine birds of prey will be challenging. Sustained lack of habitat, human persecution and emergence of diseases will likely continue to negatively impact raptor populations. The inclusion of health assessments in raptor research will contribute to a better understanding and prevention of stochastic demographic changes in Argentine birds of prey. A conservation medicine approach and the collaborative work of scientists coming from various disciplines, specially medical and biological sciences, are needed to effectively address these challenges.