2.5. Giemsa-stained blood smears

Only two samples from Blyth's hawk-eagles (BHE; Spizaetus alboniger, KU549 and KU589) were prepared using Giemsa-stained blood smears. Blood smears were prepared immediately after blood collection and then allowed to dry using an electric fan. Staining was performed as previously reported (Valkiūnas et al., 2008). Thereafter, images were obtained using a BX53 light microscope equipped with a DP73 digital camera and cellSens Standard imaging software (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). Morphological description and morphometric measurements were not performed because parasite morphology might be influenced by EDTA (Pornpanom et al., 2019a).