List of Plasmodium species infecting birds
Species in six subgenera of Plasmodium infect birds - Bennettinia, Giovannolaia, Haemamoeba, Huffia, Novyella and Papernaia. Giovannolaia appears to be a polyphytic group and may be sudivided in the future.
Avian host records
- P. accipiteris - Levant sparrowhawk
- P. alloelongatum - Levant sparrowhawk
- P. ashfordi - great reed warblers, crossbill, siskin
- P. bioccai - skylark, magpie
- P. bigueti - house sparrow
- P. biziurae - musk duck
- P. buteonis - common buzzard
- P. cathemerium - red-winged blackbird, great horned owl, house finch, blue jay, blue tit, wood thrush, song sparrow, northern mockingbird, cowbirds, house sparrow, magpies, bronze grackle, northern cardinal, canary, starling, house wren, robin, white-throated sparrow
- P. circumflexum - sharp-shinned hawk, red-winged blackbird, wood duck, canvasbacks, blue jay, Cape May warbler, gray cat bird, slate colour junicao, song sparrow, common merganser, cowbird, northern cardinal, trumpeter swan, chestnut-tailed starling, brown thrasher, American robin, juniper thrush, wild guineafowl and white-throated sparrow
- P. dissanaikei - Ross-ringed parakeet
- P. dherteae - skylark, magpie
- P. dorseti - skylark, magpie
- P. durae - turkeys, common peafowl, francolins, Japanese quail, Lady Amherst pheasants
- P. elongatum - great reed warblers, red-tailed hawk, New Zealand bellbird, bobwhite quail, bald eagle, honeycreeper, eastern screech owl, black-footed penguins,
- P. fallax - pygmy owl, turkeys, helmeted guineafowl
- P. forresteri - eastern screech-owls, great horned owls, barred owls, bald eagles, red-shouldered hawks, broad-winged hawks, red-tailed hawks
- P. gabaldoni - muscovy duck, rock pigeon
- P. gallinaceum - red junglefowl
- P. garnhami - rain quail
- P. ghadiriani - skylark, magpie
- P. giovannolai - red-billed choughs, blackbird
- P. globularis - yellow-whiskered greenbul
- P. griffithsi - wild turkeys
- P. gundersi - eastern screech owl
- P. guangdong - red-whiskered bulbul
- P. hegneri - common teal
- P. hermani - turkey, bobwhite
- P. hexamerium - skylark, magpie, eastern bluebird
- P. jiangi - red-whiskered bulbul
- P. juxtanucleare - red junglefowl, black-footed penguins, white eared-pheasant
- P. kempi - turkey, bobwhite, chukar, guinea fowl, peacocks, canary. Mallards and domestic geese may be transiently infected.
- P. loprae - Peking duck
- P. lucens - olive sunbird
- P. lutzi - grey necked wood rail and the great thrush
- P. matutinum - pigeon and dove
- P. megaglobularis - olive sunbird
- P. merulae - blackbird
- P. mohammedi - house sparrow
- P. multivacuolaris - yellow-whiskered greenbul
- P. nucleophilium - great tit, gray catbird
- P. nucleophilum toucani - Swainson's toucan
- P. octamerium - pintail whydah bird
- P. pachysomum - tawny pipit
- P. paddae - Java sparrow
- P. parahexamerium - white-tailed alethe
- P. paranucleophilum - South American tanager
- P. parvulum - vanga species
- P. pedioecetii - lesser prairie-chicken, Darwin's nothura, grouse
- P. pfefferi - magpie
- P. pinotti - bananaquit, orangequit, yellow-shouldered grassquit, black-faced grassquit
- P. polare - bald eagle, barn swallow, yellow wagtails and cliff swallows
- P. polymorphum - skylark
- P. relictum - skylark, reed warbler, New Zealand bellbird, little night owl, house finch, blue quail, blue tit, Gyr falcons, chaffinch, red-backed shrike, common crossbill, Hawaiian honeycreeper, yellow wagtail, house sparrow, magpie, red-billed choughs, tree sparrow, great tit, the bearded tit, siskin, Magellanic penguins, black-footed penguins, starling, pheasant, white-eyed thrush, yellow-faced grassquit
- P. rouxi - skylark, partridge
- P. sergentorum - skylark, magpie
- P. snounoui - magpie
- P. stellatum - spotted flycatcher
- P. tenue - babbler, Pekin robin
- P. tejerai - turkey
- P. tumbayaensis - thrush
- P. vaughani - warbler, blackbird, goldfinch, blue jay, yellow warbler, robin, junco, red-billed leiothrix, bullfinch, house sparrow, the weaver, the grackle, the canary, the blackcap, the pigeon, eastern meadowlark, starling black-faced grassquit, white-eyed thrush, the blackbird and American sparrows.
Subspecies of avian malaria
- P. nucleophilum has at least one subspecies - P. nucleophilum toucani
- P. relictum has been divided into subspecies: P. relictum capistranoae, P. relicturn matutinum, P. relictum quentini and P. relictum relictum.
- P. durae is related to P. asanum, P. circumflexum, P. fallax, P. formosanum, P. gabaldoni, P. hegneri, P. lophrae, P. lophrae, P. pediocetti, P. pinotti, and P. polare.
- P. gallinacium is related to P. griffithsi
- P. relictum is related to P. cathemerium, P. giovannolai and P. matutinum. P. relictum may be difficult to distinguish from P. giovannolai on either morphological grounds or on the basis of host species.
- P. hexamerium is related to P. vaughni.
- P. ashfordi is related to P. vaughni.
Vectors of avian malaria
- Aedes species:
- Aedes aegypti - P. gallinacium
- Aedes hesperonotius - P. gallinacium
- Culex species:
- Culex fatigans - P. relictum
- Culex pipiens - P. cathermerium, P. paddae
- Culex pipiens pipiens - P. kempi
- Culex nigripalpus - P. elongatum, P. hermani
- Culex quinquefasciatus - P. relictum
- Culex restuans - P. elongatum, P. forresteri
- Culex salinarius - P. elongatum, P. hermani
- Culex stigmatastoma - P. relictum
- Culex tarsalis - P. kempi, P. hexamerium, P. relictum
- Culiseta species
- Culiseta morsitans - P. circumflexum
- Mansonia species:
- Mansionia crassipes - P. circumflexum, P. gallinacium
- Theobaldia species
- Theobaldia annulata - P. circumflexum
Sporogeny of P. circumflexum but not transmission has been recorded in Mansonia perturbans.
Avian malaria notes
- P. relictum is known to infect over 70 bird families and 359 wild bird species so the record here should be regarded as incomplete. Additional host species can be found under the link Plasmodium relictum. It is likely that this species has been responsible for more bird extinctions than any other protist.
- P. vaughani is the second commonest species of avian malaria parasites after P. relictum.
- P. inconstans, P. irae, P. praecox, P. subpraecox and P. wasielewski have been re classified as P. relictum. P. subpraecox was described by Grassi and Feletti in 1892. P. wasielewski was described by Brumpt in 1909.
- P. elongatum infects 21 bird families and 59 species of bird. Additional host species are given under the link Plasmodium elongatum.
- P. dominicana is species known only from fossil amber. It is thought to have been a species infecting birds. It has been placed in the subgenus Nyssorhynchus.
- The taxonomic status of P. corradettii is currently regarded as dubious and may be revised.
- P. huffi may be the same species as P. nucleophilum toucani.
- P. oti is now regarded as the same species as P. hexamerium.
- There are currently 13 species recognised in the subgenus Novyella all of which are listed here.
A species P. japonicum has been reported but this appears to be the only report of this species and should therefore be regarded of dubious validity.