Ecto and Gastrointestinal Parasites of Captured Wild Pigeons in Benin City, Nigeria

This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of ecto and gastrointestinal parasites of captured wild pigeons in Benin - City, Nigeria. Fifty-six adult pigeons (Columba livia) comprising of thirty-one males and twenty-five females were examined. Gastrointestinal helminth parasites were found in 33 (58.9%) of the pigeons while 46(82.1%) were infected with one or more ectoparasites. Four helminths: Raillietina tetragona, Raillietina cesticillus, Raillietina echinobothrida (Cestoda) and Ascarida galli (Nematoda) were recorded with overall percentage prevalence of 16.8%, 1.7%, 5.6%, and 0.6% respectively. The prevalence of the three ectoparasites recorded was as follows: Columbicola columbae (23.0%), Chelopistes meleagridis (9.9%), and Goniodes gigas (3.9%). The prevalence of the ectoparasite, C. columbae, was associated based on sex of the birds since more males were susceptible to cestodes infection than the females, (pRaillietina was found in high numbers in pigeons in this study, they are parasites of major clinical importance in poultry and pigeons could also serve as reservoir hosts.Keywords: Wild pigeons, Goniodes gigas, Raillietina sp., Ascarida galli, Columbicola ColumbaNigerian Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 33 [1] March 2012, pp. 27-3