BLOOD PARASITES FOUND IN 3 PASSERINE SPECIES DURING SPRING MIGRATION

Blood samples from three common passerine bird species, Robin, Redstar t and Lesser Whitethroat, were collected during spring migration in th e south-western archipelago of Finland. A total of 10 parasitic haemos poridian and trypanosomid species were recorded. The proportion of par asited samples of all three bird species was 18.0%, with no significan t differences between them. Furthermore, the prevalence of parasites d id not differ between the sexes in Redstarts and between age classes i n Robins and Lesser Whitethroats. Instead, species that belong to the same family (Turdidae: Redstart and Robin) were partly infected with t he same parasite species. The Lesser Whitethroat, belonging to the fam ily Sylviidae, was infected with different blood parasite species comp ared with the Turdids. Our results indicate that during migration, the prevalence of blood parasites is rather low and that the taxonomic re lationships of bird species is related to their parasitic fauna.