Ectoparasites on birds (Passeriformes, Charadriiformes) migrating through the Moravian gateway

The birds migrating through the entrance to the Moravian Gate were subjected to a three-year ectoparasitological study. The studied 24 bird species had three species of louse flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae ), 31 species of biting lice (Mallophaga), two species of fleas ( Aphaniptera ) and one species of ticks (Acarina, Ixodidae). In Czechoslovakia the biting lice Quadraceps connexus were detected for the first time to be present on phalarope ( Phalaropus lobatus ) and Menacanthus sp. were found for the first time as parasites of reed warbler ( Acrocephalus arundinaceus ). The study also included the determination of the population density of parasites in the attacked birds and the frequency of the occurrence of ectoparasites in 150 specimens of the five most widespread species of reed birds. Louse flies occurring almost in a third of the birds (32% frequency) can be considered as the most important group of summer ectoparasites of the birds living at localities overgrown with reeds . Biting lice occurred at a 6% frequency, and fleas and ticks were even less abundant.