Coccidia species in endemic and native New Zealand passerines

New Zealand native passerines are hosts to a large variety of gastrointestinal parasites, including coccidia. Coccidian parasites are generally host-specific, obligate intracellular protozoan parasites. In passerine birds, members of the genus Isospora are most common. Under natural conditions, these parasites seldom pose a threat, but stressors such as quarantine for translocation, overcrowding, or habitat changes may cause an infection outbreak that can severely affect wild populations. Although coccidia are important pathogens and have caused mortalities in kiwi (Apteryx spp.) and hihi (Notiomystis cincta), their prevalence, epidemiology, life cycles, and taxonomic relationships are still widely unknown in native New Zealand songbirds. Over a period of 3 years (2007-2009), we examined 330 fecal samples of six native passerine species: tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae), North Island saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus rufusater), North Island robin (Petroica longipes), silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), and fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa). The overall prevalence by flotation of coccidian infection in the New Zealand bird species examined was 21-38 %, 21 % in North Island robin, 38 % in tui, and 25 % in saddleback. Similar to prior studies in other countries, preliminary sequencing results suggest that coccidia in passerines in New Zealand are members of the family Eimeriidae, unlike the phenotypically similar genus Cystisospora of mammals. Using molecular methods, we identified at least five new genetically distinct Isospora species in the examined birds (three in tui and one each in saddlebacks and North Island robins).