In a survey of avian blood parasites in Costa Rica, 51 (11%) of 479 birds sampled were infected by at least one species of hematozoan. Fourteen of the 60 species of birds in the survey were examined for the first time. Infections were most common in ramphastids and emberizids and infrequent in other taxa. Among resident species, infections were more commonly detected during the wet season when ...

With fewer than 50 birds remaining in the wild, Attwater's Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) is critically endangered. Individuals of this species on the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado Co., TX, have been attacked in successive winters, 2005-2006, by the blood-feeding black fly Cnephia ornithophilia. Attwater's Prairie-Chicken is a previously unreported ...

Birds from three National Parks (Bwindi Impenetrable, Kibale, and Queen Elizabeth) in western Uganda were surveyed during the dry season in July 2003 and investigated for hematozoa by microscopic examination of stained blood films. Of 307 birds examined, representing 68 species of 15 families and four orders, 61.9% were found to be infected with blood parasites. Species of Haemoproteus (15.3% p...