Lice (Phthiraptera) infesting Manitoba’s provincial bird, the great gray owl, Strix nebulosa

(S10) Terry D. GALLOWAY, Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2. Lice (Phthiraptera) infesting Manitoba’s provincial bird, the great gray owl, Strix nebulosa. Sixty-seven (61.5%) of 109 Great Gray Owls salvaged from the Manitoba Wildlife Rehabilitation Organization and from Manitoba Conservation (1994-2002) were infested with Strigiphilus remotus at a mean intensity of 63.3 (1-867) lice per infested bird. Kurodaia magna infested 15 of 109 owls (12.8%) at a mean of 68.5 per infested owl (1-238). Nine birds were infested with both S. remotus and K. magna. The implications of extracting information on the ectoparasite fauna of salvaged birds will be discussed.