If I may, an anecdotal blurt: There have been field observations that found in areas where parasites like mites and ticks are high and detrimental to the birds, the opposite might be true. Additionally it’s not uncommon practice for people to leave nesting materials for small mammals treated with Permethrin just to break tick reproductive cycle. Birds took from these too. Overall the offspring appeared to more healthy than those in greatly infested nests. Nestling anemia from bites would be a terrible way to die. Long-term side effects still need more study. I would hate a treatment based interventional approach to end up causing chromosomal damage to future generations. But losing a population of birds at once to tick born diseases is also unacceptable.
I apologize but after a rambling reply to a very valid sincere comment from a helpful person. I can’t even find the source paper that I read. DIY plans for anti mosquito-tick permethrin TP rolls for small rodent nest were popping up though. I don’t intend to sound argumentative. Seeing dying baby birds covered in mites in my own yard cut me to the core and sent me down a rabbit hole. Fighting mites in my own home was rough too and I accidentally triggered and vented.
TLDR; Parasites suck. Thanks for your time; carry on.
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u/IamACanadian47 5d ago
Every time I brush my part husky rescue dog I leave the clumps of fur in an empty suet feeder for all the critters to use and it seems popular.