How do grooming and preening help animals control lice?

Grooming and preening are essential behaviors for animals to regulate louse populations on their bodies. These actions serve as a primary defense mechanism, as evidenced by the fact that sick animals or those with physical impairments—such as birds with damaged bills—often suffer from abnormally large infestations because they cannot groom or preen themselves effectively.12

In birds, preening involves cleaning feathers and skin, which helps remove chewing lice that feed on these surfaces. Similarly, mammals engage in self-grooming or mutual grooming, which helps maintain hygiene and manage parasite loads. Beyond individual health, mutual grooming also serves to strengthen social bonds within groups or colonies.31

While grooming and preening are critical, animals may also utilize other methods to control lice, including:

• Dust baths2
• Exposure to intense sunlight2
• Continuous wetting2
• Predatory mites2

By maintaining these cleaning behaviors, healthy hosts are able to keep louse populations significantly lower than those found on compromised individuals.2