Kinds of Bird Mites

Bird mites are parasites, which means they latch onto their host organisms to meet their own basic needs. Although bird mites primarily infest birds, they can also spread to infect entire households in a short period. If birds are not present to provide female mites with the blood they need for reproduction, bird mites will aggressively bite humans to extract the needed blood. Different kinds of bird mites infest different regions of their host birds.

  1. Feathers

    • Feather mites are usually beneficial freeloaders

      Feather mites are not bad parasites for birds. These mites have a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship with the birds they inhabit. Feather mites eat the oil and fungi that collects on a bird's feathers. This helps keep the bird clean and disease free.

    Skin

    • Red and gray mites are harmful to the health of birds, because they actually feed on flesh to meet their dietary needs. They typically become active at night, which makes it hard to observe birds reacting to the mite's bites with excessive scratching and other signs of discomfort. As the infestation worsens, bird owners will likely discover bald patches or severely inflamed skin, usually in the region right around a bird's head.

    Leg and Face

    • Knemidocoptic mites infest non-feathered regions of their bird hosts. They cause lesions that can be fatal to birds if not treated immediately. These lesions appear as thick and scaly patches on a bird's legs or face. Knemidocoptic mites generally infest birds that live in unsanitary conditions. They can usually be avoided by keeping a bird and its cage extremely clean.

    Internal Organs

    • Mites that infest the internal organs of birds are extremely dangerous to their health. Canary lung mites infest the trachea, lungs and air sacs of birds. Finches and canaries are the most common hosts associated with these mites. Small infestations may cause no outward manifestation, but serious cases will result in obvious breathing problems in these birds.