Parasites of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) of North America

Information concerning parasites of the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in North America is relatively sparse. Since the bald eagle in parts of the United States is an endangered species, collection of eagles for parasito!ogical study is difficult. There have been several singular reports of parasites found in oron bald eagles in the literature. However, Kocan and Locke (1974, J. Wild!. I)is. 10: 8-10) reported the first survey of helminths collected from dead and moribund bald eagles they examined from 1963-1971. Since dead and moribund eagles are collected and submitted to the National Wildlife Health Laboratory (NWHL) for necropsy to determine factors that con tribute to their mortality, the opportunity was provided to collect and identify en doparasites and ectoparasites observed during routine necropsy. This paper summarizes the parasites found in bald eagles examined from 1979-1981. Parasite specimens were obtained from a total of 84 bald eagles collected from 18 states. All helminth parasites were fixed in AFA (alcohol-formalinacetic acid). Trematodes and acanthocephala were stained with Semichon’s carmine and mounted. Nematodes were cleared in glycerine. Ectoparasites were fixed in 70% alcohol and cleared in 1014 KOH before being mounted. Wet smears made from intestinal scrapings were examined at 140 and 1000X magnification to detect the presence of protozoan parasites. Bald eagle specimens submitted to NWHL were not used exclusively for parasitological examinations, thus metazoan parasite specimens were collected by sight. Fine-mesh screens were not used. Parasites recovered from bald eagle hosts are shown in Table 1. One protozoan, two genera of Trematoda, one genus of Acanthocephala, seven genera of Nematoda, and three genera of Mallophaga were reported. New host records are indicated in the table by an asterisk. Female Contracaecum found without males or those that were found as larval stages were identified only to