BACKGROUND: Platyhelminthes are common parasites of diurnal birds of prey, including common buzzard (Buteo buteo). They are widely distributed in Europe. Despite the extensive study of flatworms across the continent, this study represents the first report for Romania and extends the biogeographic knowledge of Platyhelminthes in diurnal raptors. It also identifies common buzzards as a new host of Parastrigea flexilis in Europe. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2017 and 2020, 63 common buzzards (Buteo buteo) found road killed or dead due to other causes were collected from Romania. All specimens were necropsied and examined for internal helminths, which were preserved in ethanol for molecular identification and formaldehyde for morphological identification. RESULTS: Species identified included Cestoda: Cladotaenia globifera (33.3%) and five species of Trematoda: Neodiplostomum attenuatum (12.7%), Strigea falconis (6.4%), Parastrigea flexilis (3.2%), Neodiplostomum spathoides (3.2%) and Brachylaima fuscata (1.6%). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new data about diversity, phylogenetics and geographical distribution of Platyhelminthes parasitizing Buteo buteo in Romania. To our best knowledge, it identifies B. buteo as a new host of Parastrigea flexilis and reports the first genetic sequence of Neodiplostomum spathoides.

• Klíčová slova
• Cestodes, Common buzzard, Romania, Trematodes,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Strigea falconis is a common parasite of birds of prey and owls widely distributed in the Holarctic. We aimed to characterise S. falconis from Iceland via integrative taxonomic approach and to contribute to the understanding of its circulation in the Holarctic. We recovered adult S. falconis from two gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) collected in 2011 and 2012 in Iceland (Reykjanes Peninsula, Westfjords) and characterised them by morphological and molecular genetic (D2 of rDNA, cox1, ND1 of the mDNA) methods. We provide the first species record of S. falconis in Iceland which to the best of our knowledge is its northernmost distributional range. The presence of S. falconis in Iceland is surprising, as there are no suitable intermediate hosts allowing completion of its life cycle. Gyrfalcons are fully sedentary in Iceland; thus, the only plausible explanation is that they acquired their infection by preying upon migratory birds arriving from Europe. Our data indicate that the most likely candidates are Anseriformes and Charadriiformes. Also, we corroborate the wide geographical distribution of S. falconis, as we found a high degree of similarity between our haplotypes and sequences of mesocercariae from frogs in France and of a metacercaria from Turdus naumanni in Japan, and adults from Buteo buteo and Circus aeruginosus from the Czech Republic. The case of Strigea falconis shows the advantages of a complex life cycle and also depicts its pitfalls when a parasite is introduced to a new area with no suitable intermediate hosts. In Iceland, gyrfalcons are apparently dead-end hosts for S. falconis.

• Klíčová slova
• Digenea, Gyrfalcon, Life cycle, Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, Raptors, Trematoda,
• MeSH
• Falconiformes * MeSH
• stadia vývoje MeSH
• Trematoda * genetika   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa MeSH
• Island epidemiologie   MeSH

BACKGROUND: Central European aerial insectivores are long-distance migrants that winter in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of them employ the fly-and-forage migrating strategy and differ in their food composition. The composition and structure of helminth component communities of these hosts are poorly understood, and information regarding seasonality and long-term changes is unavailable. METHODS: From 1963 to 2022, we analyzed the population trends of helminths in five aerial insectivore species. Namely, we examined Apus apus, Hirundo rustica, Delichon urbicum, Riparia riparia, and Ficedula albicollis; all originated from the Czech Republic. RESULTS: We identified central European aerial insectivores as hosts that are parasitized mostly by helminths that cannot complete their life-cycles in the nesting quarters of their hosts. This phenomenon is unknown in other bird host species. In contrast, only a single dominant trematode species that completes its life-cycle locally colonized the central European aerial insectivores. All other dominant species of Trematoda, all Nematoda, and all Acanthocephala were dependent on intermediate hosts unavailable in the nesting quarters of the examined bird hosts. Surprisingly, these helminths transmitted from winter quarters or migratory routes were diverse, and many of them were abundant in terms of both prevalence and intensity of infection. The helminth component communities of aerial insectivores were dynamic systems. During the study period, three species became new and regularly encountered members of helminth fauna of examined hosts, and other species gradually increased or decreased their intensity of infection. In contrast to other groups of bird hosts, the dominant helminth species of aerial insectivores did not experience local extinctions or rapid population losses. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of helminths of five central European aerial insectivores revealed component communities that heavily rely on completing host-parasite cycles at migration routes or wintering grounds. The composition of the analyzed component communities changed dynamically during the 60-year-long study period, but there was no evidence of large-scale declines in abundance or prevalence.

• Klíčová slova
• Aerial insectivores, Diptera, Helminths, Migration, Population dynamics, Trematoda, Urban birds,
• MeSH
• Acanthocephala * MeSH
• cizopasní červi * MeSH
• helmintózy zvířat * epidemiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• ptáci parazitologie   MeSH
• stadia vývoje MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika epidemiologie   MeSH