IntroductionTurkey has 97 Important Bird Areas (IBAs), which cover a total of 29.978 km 2 , or 4% of the total land area. The country is divided into 7 major geographical regions, each with different climates, habitats, flora, and fauna. The study area, Bursa, is located along the Marmara Sea. This province, which lies along migratory flyways, is an important transit area for migratory birds and contains 4 IBAs (Magnin et al., 2000).Members of the genus Buteo are primarily residents or short-distance migrants. The common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium-to-large bird of prey whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. The subspecies Vulpinus (steppe buzzard) generally uses the south of Turkey as its wintering area, except the southeastern region (Heinzel et al., 1995).Buzzards eat various small mammals and amphibians, including rabbits, snakes, and lizards, as well as worms and insects. As a result of these dietary habits, it is likely that they are frequently exposed to larval or adult parasites. Parasites can affect the health and productivity of wild birds to different degrees. While most helminths infect wild birds without causing much damage, heavy infections can result in reduced performance and increased mortality Materials and methods Study areaThe study area is located in the southeast of the Marmara region (40°11′N, 29°04′E) and is characterized by hot and dry summers with some rainfall. The mean annual Abstract: Raptors can be parasitized by numerous helminth species due to their feeding behavior. When the parasite load is high, the bird's life can be affected. A total of 21 common buzzards, Buteo buteo, from different districts of Bursa, in Northwest Turkey, were examined for helminth infections. The results of the postmortem examination revealed that 15 of 21 buzzards (71.43%) harbored 1 or more helminth species. Seven species/genera of helminths were detected at the following prevalence rates: ascarid larvae (47.62%), Strigea falconis (38.09%), Neodiplostomum attenuatum (33.33%), Cladotaenia globifera (14.29%), Centrorhynchus amphibius (14.29%), Physaloptera alata (9.52%), and Synhimantus laticeps (4.76%). The most common helminth species was S. falconis, which was found in the small intestine of its hosts. This study is the first report to describe the presence of N. attenuatum, S. falconis, C. globifera, P. alata, and C. amphibius in the common buzzards of Turkey. This study is also the first to report the presence of S. laticeps in common buzzards, although this helminth had been previously reported in a sparrow hawk in Turkey.

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Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) is one of the most drought‐tolerant perennial legumes that can thrive in dry, alkaline soils. A 3‐year study in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey compared the persistence, productivity and nutritive value of sainfoin planted with nurse crops, namely Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica Crantz.) or triticale (× Triticosecale Wittm, ex A. Camus), at three seeding rates. Sainfoin and nurse crop emergence were significantly affected by the companion nurse crop, sowing rate and establishment year. The number of sainfoin plants at emergence was lower during a drier “bad” year (110 plant/m2) than in a “good” precipitation year (236 plant/m2). Triticale had a more negative impact on sainfoin growth than vetch. Planting nurse crops at high seeding rates (90 kg/ha) reduced the number of sainfoin seedlings as compared to the control, while the low seeding rate had little impact on sainfoin emergence. Planting sainfoin with triticale resulted in much greater yield exceeding 10 t/ha, but reduced the forage nutritive value compared to sainfoin monocultures and sainfoin–vetch mixtures. The seeding rate of the nurse crops during a dry year did not affect DM yield in the year of establishment nor in the following year. The findings of this study indicate that planting sainfoin with a nurse crop can substantially increase the DM yield in the year of establishment without yield penalties in the subsequent years, despite fewer established plants, as compared to sainfoin monocultures.