HAEMOPROTEUS GREINERI IN WOOD DUCKS FROM THE ATLANTIC FLYWAY

Thin smears of blood were examined from 157 wood ducks (Air sponsa) tr apped at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (South Carolina, USA) and H arris Neck National Wildlife Refuge (Georgia, USA) during spring and s ummer, 1994 and 1995. Thirteen wood ducks (8%) were infected with bloo d parasites. Eleven of these birds were infected with Haemoproteus net tionis, seven with Leucocytozoon simondi, and five with unidentified m icrofilariae. Additionally, eight wood ducks (5%) were infected with H aemoproteus greineri. This is the first record of H. greineri in anati ds trapped along the Atlantic Flyway south of Labrador and the first r ecord of this species in wood ducks. To further characterize the distr ibution of H. greineri in the wood duck, blood smears were examined fr om hatching year ducks trapped at 10 different Atlantic flyway locatio ns during spring and summer, 1980 to 1983. Haemoproteus greineri was f ound in wood ducks trapped in all 10 locations which extend from 46 de grees N latitude in New Brunswick to 37 degrees N latitude in Virginia . These findings indicate that H. greineri is not exclusively boreal i n distribution, but also is found, at least in wood ducks, along much of the Atlantic Flyway.