Sperwers Accipiter nisus met ontstekingen in de bek door Eucoleus dispar

A first-year female (banded, Finnish origin) and an adult male Sparrowhawk were found dead in the northern Netherlands in January-February 2023. Both were emaciated, showed chronic inflammation of the beak cavity and appeared to have died from gastrointestinal bleeding. The tongue of both birds was partly covered with a yellowish plaque. Histological examination revealed glossitis with eggs and larvae of the nematode Eucoleus dispar. The inflammation may have caused problems with food ingestion, eventually leading to gastrointestinal bleeding and mortality. Between 2010 and 2020 E. dispar has been reported in The Netherlands in five out of seven raptor species, most frequently in Common Buzzard Buteo buteo (22 out of 110 investigated). Buzzard was the only species (out of 7 raptors) that was inflicted with E. dispar in The Netherlands in 1975-95.