The aim of this study was to analyze synanthropic birds as risk factors for introducing ticks and tick-borne pathogens into human settlements, with an emphasis on rickettsiae. Altogether 184 subadult ticks were found on 5846 birds. Tick infestation was most prevalent during the spring. In this sample group the majority of ticks were molecularly identified as Ixodes ricinus, and three individuals collected from the European robin as Hyalomma marginatum marginatum. The latter is the first molecularly confirmed occurrence of this species in Hungary. Rickettsia aeschlimannii was detected in H. marginatum, also for the first time in Hungary, and in ticks from an urbanized bird species north of the Mediterranean countries. The overall prevalence range of rickettsiae (including R. helvetica and R. monacensis) in ticks of synanthropic birds was 29-40%, exceeding that in questing ticks of relevant species reported earlier. Additionally, in specimens of I. ricinus, the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and a new Francisella-like genotype was also verified. Thus, it can be concluded that birds with urban or periurban habitats pose a high risk as tick carriers and reservoirs of zoonotic agents, especially of rickettsiae. The aim of this study was to analyze synanthropic birds as risk factors for introducing ticks and tick-borne pathogens into human settlements, with an emphasis on rickettsiae. Altogether 184 subadult ticks were found on 5846 birds. Tick infestation was most prevalent during the spring. In this sample group the majority of ticks were molecularly identified as Ixodes ricinus, and three individuals collected from the European robin as Hyalomma marginatum marginatum. The latter is the first molecularly confirmed occurrence of this species in Hungary. Rickettsia aeschlimannii was detected in H. marginatum, also for the first time in Hungary, and in ticks from an urbanized bird species north of the Mediterranean countries. The overall prevalence range of rickettsiae (including R. helvetica and R. monacensis) in ticks of synanthropic birds was 29-40%, exceeding that in questing ticks of relevant species reported earlier. Additionally, in specimens of I. ricinus, the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and a new Francisella-like genotype was also verified. Thus, it can be concluded that birds with urban or periurban habitats pose a high risk as tick carriers and reservoirs of zoonotic agents, especially of rickettsiae.

A recently published checklist of Hungarian louse fauna (Insecta: Phthiraptera) listed 279 species and subspecies which have been recorded in Hungary. According to that checklist several louse species still await detection in Hungary, and many of the previously reported louse species have not been found on all expected host species yet. Our faunistical survey on avian lice started in 2005 at Ócsa Bird Ringing Station, resulting hundreds of ectoparasite samples collected from over 70 bird species. Additionally, our louse collection has grown by collecting samples in other research projects focusing on various bird species, and by sampling cadavers before taxidermy in the Bird Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. As the results of a preliminary exploration of this collection, we list 20 louse species which are new to the Hungarian fauna, as well as the first Hungarian records of 17 host-parasite associations. We also found 3 louse-bird association records new for the World fauna.