Long-term study reveals central European aerial insectivores as an unusual group of hosts that harbor mostly helminths that are unable to complete life-cycles in the nesting quarters of their hosts

BACKGROUND: Central European aerial insectivores are long-distance migrants that winter in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of them employ the fly-and-forage migrating strategy and differ in their food composition. The composition and structure of helminth component communities of these hosts are poorly understood, and information regarding seasonality and long-term changes is unavailable. METHODS: From 1963 to 2022, we analyzed the population trends of helminths in five aerial insectivore species. Namely, we examined Apus apus, Hirundo rustica, Delichon urbicum, Riparia riparia, and Ficedula albicollis; all originated from the Czech Republic. RESULTS: We identified central European aerial insectivores as hosts that are parasitized mostly by helminths that cannot complete their life-cycles in the nesting quarters of their hosts. This phenomenon is unknown in other bird host species. In contrast, only a single dominant trematode species that completes its life-cycle locally colonized the central European aerial insectivores. All other dominant species of Trematoda, all Nematoda, and all Acanthocephala were dependent on intermediate hosts unavailable in the nesting quarters of the examined bird hosts. Surprisingly, these helminths transmitted from winter quarters or migratory routes were diverse, and many of them were abundant in terms of both prevalence and intensity of infection. The helminth component communities of aerial insectivores were dynamic systems. During the study period, three species became new and regularly encountered members of helminth fauna of examined hosts, and other species gradually increased or decreased their intensity of infection. In contrast to other groups of bird hosts, the dominant helminth species of aerial insectivores did not experience local extinctions or rapid population losses. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of helminths of five central European aerial insectivores revealed component communities that heavily rely on completing host–parasite cycles at migration routes or wintering grounds. The composition of the analyzed component communities changed dynamically during the 60-year-long study period, but there was no evidence of large-scale declines in abundance or prevalence. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-022-05636-6.