Gastrointestinal helminths of two populations of wild pigeons (Columba livia) in Brazil

Abstract The present study analyzed gastrointestinal helminth communities in 265 wild pigeons (Columba livia) living in the municipalities of São Paulo and Tatuí, state of São Paulo, Brazil, over a one-year period. The birds were caught next to grain storage warehouses and were necropsied. A total of 790 parasites comprising one nematode species and one cestode genus were recovered from 110 pigeons, thus yielding an overall prevalence of 41.5%, mean intensity of infection of 7.2 ± 1.6 (range 1-144) and discrepancy index of 0.855. Only 15 pigeons (5.7%) presented mixed infection. The helminths isolated from the birds were Ascaridia columbae (Ascaridiidae) and Raillietina sp. (Davaineidae). The birds’ weights differed according to sex but this did not influence the intensity of infection. The overall prevalence and intensity of infection did not differ between the sexes, but the prevalence was higher among the birds from Tatuí (47.8%). The gastrointestinal helminth community of C. livia was characterized in the two areas studied and parasite homogeneity was observed over the 12 months analyzed at both locations. These results make contributions to the current literature on health aspects of wild C. livia populations.

摘要 本研究在为期一年的监测周期内，对栖息于巴西圣保罗州圣保罗市与塔图伊市的265只野生岩鸽（Columba livia）的胃肠道蠕虫群落展开分析。研究人员在谷物仓储仓库附近捕获这些鸟类并进行剖检。从110只鸽子体内共检出790株寄生虫，涵盖1种线虫与1个绦虫属，总感染率达41.5%，平均感染强度为7.2±1.6（范围1~144），差异指数为0.855。仅15只鸽子（5.7%）出现混合感染。从宿主体内分离出的蠕虫为鸽蛔虫（Ascaridia columbae，Ascaridiidae科）与瑞利绦虫未定种（Raillietina sp.，Davaineidae科）。受试鸽子的体重存在性别差异，但该差异未对感染强度产生影响。不同性别间的总感染率与感染强度无显著差异，但塔图伊市捕获的鸽子感染率（47.8%）更高。本研究对两个研究区域内岩鸽的胃肠道蠕虫群落进行了特征描述，且两处采样点在12个月的监测周期内均观察到寄生虫群落的同质性。本研究结果为当前野生岩鸽种群健康相关的现有学术文献提供了有益补充。