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Paddy field ecosystem serves as critical feeding and nesting habitat for various birds, thus compensating the habitat loss and degradation of the natural ecosystem. We want to document the bird species abundance and composition at Sabak Bernam granary area, located in West Peninsular Malaysia. The species distribution pattern was known to associate with rice growing stages. Birds was observed with a week of survey in each rice growing phases using point-count method. Overall, 40 species and 23 families have been recorded from all growing phases. Ploughing phase showed the highest bird abundance (736 individuals), while, maturation phase showed the highest species richness (31 species) and reproductive phase recorded the highest species diversity (H = 2.474). Waterbirds were the most dominant family which consists of Ardeidae, Alcedinidae and Rallidae. Three migrant and one vagrant were recorded in this study. Insectivory was the most abundant guild, dominated by Pacific swallow (Hirundo tahitica). However, there were no significant differences between all feeding guilds at different phases (df = 3, p > 0.05). This study indicates that although several species were pest upon rice buds, many of them play a crucial role in paddy field ecosystem services, particularly for pest control, reduce weeds and scavenging on carcasses. Therefore, this man-made wetland habitat area able to harbour a great diversity of birds and indirectly give benefits to the farmers.

Angiostrongylus malaysiensis is a potential zoonotic parasite, which reported to co‐occur with A. cantonensis in human cerebrospinal fluid. It is a heteroxenous nematode that primarily develops through the early larval stages in gastropods and attains sexual maturity within rats. This study was conducted to determine the host species responsible for the reservoir of A. malaysiensis and investigate the risk factor for transmission among the hosts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sampling was conducted in six recreational parks. The rats were trapped alive using steel wire traps with bait, while the gastropods were collected by active searching. The rats were euthanized and dissected to collect any adult worms observed. The molecular detection of A. malaysiensis was performed by PCR on gastropod tissue samples. Biotic and landscape factors were recorded for risk factor analysis. In total, 82 rats and 330 gastropods were collected throughout the study. Overall, 3.64% of gastropods and 32.9% of rats were infected with A. malaysiensis. Rattus tiomanicus (Malayan wood rat) and Parmarion martensi (Yellow‐shelled semi‐slug) were found as important hosts for A. malaysiensis. Host species, sampling site and macrohabitat type are risk factors associated with the prevalence of A. malaysiensis infection in rats. For gastropods, host species and sampling site are risk factors that correlate with the parasite detection. In total, 128 adult A. malaysiensis were recovered from the infected rats. The mean intensity of infection with adult A. malaysiensis was 4.65 for Rattus rattus complex and 4.90 for R. tiomanicus. Adult worms were found in the pulmonary artery or right ventricle, while eggs and first‐stage larvae were found in capillaries of the caudal lung lobe. Infected lungs showed extravasated red blood cells in the alveolar spaces. The pulmonary arteries in the infected lung lobe were thickened. Kepong Metropolitan Park is the hotspot area for A. malaysiensis in Kuala Lumpur. These results provide essential information for public health officials to develop targeted interventions to reduce the transmission of A. malaysiensis in urban areas, particularly in recreational parks.