New Waterfowl Host Records for Sarcocystis rileyi and a Review of Sarcosporidiosis in Birds

Since the first sarcocystid parasite, Sarcocystis rileyi (Stiles, 1893), was described in birds, many additional reports have appeared. Erickson (6) last reviewed sarcosporidiosis in birds, reporting 11 described species of Sarcocystis and 6 designations of Sarcocystis sp. infecting 20 species of birds belonging to 19 genera, 13 families, and 8 orders. Subsequent host records for S. rileyi and Sarcocystis sp. are noted in Table 1. The taxonomic position of the parasite is discussed by Levine (9), who places all Sarcocystis species in the family Sarcocystidae, class Toxoplasmasida. It is doubtful that every bird genus with sarcosporidiosis harbors a different species, as was