Some helminthes of the great egret (egretta alba)‎ in Saudi Arabia

الملخص EN

Examination of the alimentary tracts of 9 Great Egret (Egretta alba) found freshly died in their inland places around Al-Qassim area during migration season in September and October revealed infection by 6 species of helminthes.

The extracted parasites were including two cathode worms, three nematodes and one acanthocephalan.

They were identified as Uniciuna species, Choano-taenia, Subculture species, Contrac-aecum species, Syphacia species and Polymorphous species.

None of any examined carcass appears free from infection.

The rate of distribution of the parasite in the examined birds was varied between 66.6 %, 11.1 %, 44.4 %, 44.4 %, 66.6 % and 2.2 % for the previous parasites respectively.

The rate of Parasite burden for each species was moderate to low, as it was 5.16, 3.25, 2.65, 2.0, 3.4 and 4.5 from the previous parasites respectively.

None of these parasites was published previously in Saudi Arabia as infect this type of Egret.

Their morphological characters and their distribution were described in detail.