Data from: Feeder use predicts both acquisition and transmission of a contagious pathogen in a North American songbird

Individual heterogeneity has been shown to influence the dynamics of infectious diseases in wildlife and humans alike. Thus, recent work has sought to identify behavioural characteristics that influence an individual’s likelihood of contributing disproportionately to either pathogen acquisition (super-receiving) or transmission (super-spreading). However, it remains unknown whether the same behaviours enhance both acquisition and transmission, a scenario likely to result in more explosive epidemics. Here we examined this possibility in an ecologically relevant host-pathogen system: house finches and a naturally-occurring bacterial pathogen (Mycoplasma gallisepticum) that causes conjunctivitis. We examined behaviours likely to influence disease acquisition (feeding behaviours, aggression, social network affiliations) in an observational field study, and found that the time an individual spends on bird feeders was the strongest predictor of Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis. To test whether this behaviour also influences the likelihood of transmitting M. gallisepticum, we experimentally inoculated individuals based on feeding behaviour and tracked resulting epidemics within captive flocks. As predicted, transmission was fastest when birds that spent the most time on feeders initiated the epidemic. Our results suggest that the same behaviour underlies both pathogen acquisition and transmission in this system and potentially others, and identifying individuals that exhibit such behaviours is critical for disease management.