Parasites of the digestive tract in free-ranging birds in Greece

A total of 136 digestive tracts and faecal samples were collected from free-ranging birds originating from different parts of Greece and were evaluated for the presence of gastrointestinal parasites. The birds belonged to 35 species and 16 families (Pelecanidae, Ardeidae, Phoenicopteridae, Anatidae, Accipitridae, Falconidae, Rallidae, Laridae, Sternidae, Columbidae, Tytonidae, Strigidae, Caprimulgidae, Apodidae, Turdidae and Corvidae). Among the 6 protozoan, 11 trematode, 5 cestode, 19 nematode and 7 acanthocephalan species found, the parasites Clinostomum complanatum, Cotylurus cornutus, Ophiosoma spp., Neodiplostomum spathoides, Conodiplostomum spathula, Cardiocephaloides longicollis, Diplostomum spathaceum, Cladogynia spp., Leptotaenia ischnorhyncha, Sobolevicanthus gracilis, Tetrameres fissispina, Capillaria tenuissima, C. strigis, Cyrnea leptoptera, Porrocaecum spp., Physaloptera alata, Centrorhynchus bazaleticus, C. aluconis, C. milvus, C. globocaudatus, Polymorphus spp. and Plagiorhynchus spp. are reported for the first time in Greece.