Haemoproteus insects including mosquitoes, biting midges ("Culicoides"), louse flies ("Hippoboscidae") and tabanid flies ("Tabanidae"). Infection with this genus is sometimes known as pseudomalaria because of the parasites' similarities with "Plasmodium" species. Within the genus there are at least 173 species, 5 varieties and 1 subspecies. Of these over 140 occur in birds, 16 in reptiles and 3 in amphibia: 14 orders and 50 families of birds are represented. These include gamebirds ("Galliformes"), waterfowl ("Anseriformes"), raptors ("Accipitriformes", "Falconiformes", "Strigiformes"), pigeons and doves ("Columbiformes"), and perching birds or songbirds ("Passeriformes"). The first description of this genus was in 1890 by Kruse who described
Birds of the Amazon Birds of the Amazon An immense number of bird species live in the Amazon rainforest and river basin (an area which is nominally home to one out of every ten known species of animal). Over 1,300 of these species are types of birds, which accounts for one-third of all bird species in the world. The diets of rainforest birds greatly differ between species, although, nuts, fruits and leaves are a common food for many birds in the Amazon. Birds migrate to the Amazon rainforest from the North or South. Amazon birds are threatened by deforestation since they primarily reside in