Prevalence and diversity of avian blood parasites in a resident northern passerine.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Climate-related changes are expected to influence the prevalence and distribution of vector-borne haemosporidian parasites at northern latitudes, although baseline information about resident birds is still lacking. In this study, we investigated prevalence and genetic diversity of Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon parasites infecting the northwestern crow (Corvus caurinus), a non-migratory passerine with unique life-history characteristics. This species occupies both intertidal and forested habitats and is subject to high prevalence of avian keratin disorder (AKD), a disease that causes gross beak deformities. Investigation of avian blood parasites in northwestern crows at sites broadly distributed across coastal Alaska provided an opportunity to evaluate speci

SUBMITTER: Van Hemert C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6558893 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature