Ep. 77 - Mite-y Cool: The Amazing, Unseen World of Feather Mites

The Field Guides

In this episode, Bill and Steve dive into a tiny, bustling world - a world that’s hiding on the feathers of the birds we see every day. Joining them is Dr. Alix Matthews, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University at Buffalo, and she reveals the strange lives of feather mites — how these barely-visible hitchhikers feed and get around and whether or not they’re helping or hurting their avian hosts.

This episode was recorded on September 4, 2025 at Walton Woods in Amherst, NY.

Episode Notes and Links

Check out Dr. Matthews’s website and research here.

And watch a presentation on mites she did for Audubon Arkansas in October 2025.

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Photo Credit

Dr. Alix Matthews - https://matthewsalix.weebly.com/feather-mites.html