During an expedition to the Southern Argentinean town of Ushuaia, the Antarctic
Peninsula, Antarctic Islands and the Falkland Islands, we collected 94 faecal specimens
from wild birds to screen for yeast within the different bird species. The yeast species
were identified by morphological features and commercial characterisation kits. From
54% of the specimens, we isolated 122 strains representing 29 yeast species.
Debaryomyces hansenii, Candida lambica and Candida krusei were the most frequently
isolated species. We found a plethora of yeasts in birds living in proximity to humans,
whereas birds living in more remote areas were colonised with a lower number of
fungal species.