Prevalence of External Parasites in Cattle Egret (Bubulcus Ibis) in Egypt

The present study was aimed to determine the ectoparasites infested the cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and its role in maintenance of such parasites in nature or transmission of these parasites to other species of wild and domestic birds especially after dramatic increase of cattle egret's population inside the urban areas. During this study, a total of 106 cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) were examined for the detection of external parasites of which 5 species ectoparasites; two lice, one tick larvae, one flea and one dipteran fly were detected. The detected ectoparasites were two lice sprcies Ciconiphilus decimfasciatus (67.92%) and Menopon gallinae  (45.28), one tick Argas persicus larvae  (11.32), one fly Pseudolynchia sp.  (9.43%) and one flea Ctenocephalides canis (1.88 %). Five factors (habitat, area of collection, sex, age and season) affecting the prevalence of these parasites in cattle egrets were studied.