First molecular study of prevalence and diversity of avian haemosporidia in a Central California songbird community

We studied avian haemosporidian parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon in a riparian songbird community in Central California, USA, over a period of 2 years. We sequenced a well-characterized region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to identify the prevalence and diversity of these parasites from 399 birds. Of the 39.8 % of birds infected with haemosporidian parasites, most (30.8 %) were infected with Plasmodium. We identified 35 lineages, including 13 from the Plasmodium genus, 12 from Haemoproteus, and 10 from Leucocytozoon, 14 of which were novel lineages. In addition, we provide the first report of haemosporidian infections in 13 host species. Plasmodium prevalence ranged widely among host species from 0.0 to 68.6 %. We identified 2 Plasmodium lineages that were generalists, infecting multiple species across several families. One Plasmodium species, P. homopolare, was found in 84 individual birds representing 9 host species from 5 families, but primarily from Emberizidae. This is the first avian haemosporidian study utilizing molecular methods in California, which increases our understanding of the diversity and prevalence of avian haemosporidia affecting Passeriformes in this region and beyond.