Abstract

We describe species of lice collected from 12 species of Chilean diumal raptors. Sampled raptors were obtained from wildlife rehabilitation centers and zoos, as carcasses found along highways, and from the avian collection of the National Museum of Natural History. Fourteen species of lice were isolated from all raptor hosts, with genus Degeeriella Neumann, 1906 (Philopteridae) and Colpocephalum Nitzsch, 1818 (Menoponidae) the most frequently found (60% and 26% of all lice, respectively). Degeeriella leucopleura (Nitzsch in Giebel, 1874) from Cinereous Harrier (Circus cinereus), D. carruthi Emerson, 1953 from American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) and Colpocephalum maculatum Piaget, 1880 from Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) were the lice most commonly collected. Including data from previous studies, we found that in Chilean Falconiformes (1) Colpocephalum turbinatum Denny, 1842 is the louse species associated with the greatest number of raptor species, (2) Degeeriella fulva and Laemobothrion tinnunculi are characteristic of the genera of Buteo and Falco, respectively, and (3) the degree of host-specificity is high (76% of all louse species were associated with only one species host). Thus, our results are similar to those observed for other raptor hosts worldwide. © 2008 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.