Posted by Mark Grantham on 24-09-2008 16:53
#1
Hopefully this will be of interest to some...
We have just had a record confirmed by the NHM of the flat-fly Ornithomya biloba, collected from a Paddyfield Warbler (Acrocephalus agricola) on 7 October 2007 on the Sussex coast.
Apparently this is very host specific, just found on swallows and martins. This bird almost certainly picked up the parasite in a reedbed roost of birds. For info, the nearest regular breeding of Paddyfeld Warbler is around the Black Sea.
Mark Grantham
British Trust for Ornithology
Posted by Zeegers on 24-09-2008 17:33
#2
Very interesting, if correct.
Are you very sure about the biloba ? Fringillina would be expected on Paddyfield (congratulions, by the way)
Theo
Posted by Mark Grantham on 24-09-2008 18:38
#3
I personally have no idea, as the ID came from the Natural History Museum. They did note that it was an unusual record, firstly because biloba is quite rare in the UK, and secondly because it is very host specific.
Mark G