Blood Parasites from Band-Tailed Pigeons

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Blood films from 475 band-tailed pigeons (Columba fasciata) from Colorado (364), California (105), and Mexico (6) were examined for hematozoa. Bone marrow from 18 Colorado birds was examined for trypanosomes. Eighty-six percent of the pigeons from Colorado, 51 percent from California, and all from Mexico showed some parasitemia. Parasites identified were: Haemoproteus columbae, H. sacharovi, Leucocytozoon marchouxi, Trypanosoma avium, and microfilaria. T. avium is a new record for the band-tailed pigeon. Significant differences in infection (P < 0.05) were found between adults and immatures in Colorado, between adult males and adult females in California, and between adults of each population. Band-tailed pigeons from Colorado were more heavily parasitized than those from California; Haemoproteus columbae and Trypanosoma avium were not found in birds from California. A limited sample from Mexico revealed parasite burdens similar to those reported for Colorado. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 41(1):128-130 Band-tailed pigeons occur in two distinct populations in western North America (Braun et al. 1975), with the Coastal population (C. f. monilis) being a major game species with annual harvests in excess of 500,000 birds in some years (Jeffrey 1976). Despite the wide distribution of this pigeon and its importance as a game species, little information is available concerning its parasite burden. This paper reports the results of examination of blood films from pigeons sampled in Colorado, California, and Mexico. Wood and Herman (1943) examined one pigeon each from Arizona (C. f. fasciata) and California (C. f. monilis) and reported Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon, respectively. Stabler et al. (1950) and Stabler and Holt (1961) reported on the hematozoa from 109 pigeons captured north of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Parasites reported in these two papers were Haemoproteus columbae, H. sacharovi, Leucocytozoon marchouxi, and microfilaria. Due to the paucity of data from pigeons outside of east central Colorado, efforts were made to collect adequate samples of blood films from a variety of locations. This study was supported in part by Colorado Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Project W-88-R. The assistance of J. A. White in making blood films from birds in Colorado and California, and of F. J. Ward in making California pigeons available is gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is expressed to D. C. Bowden, Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, for conducting statistical analyses. METHODS AND MATERIALS Pigeons in Colorado were sampled from May into September, in Mexico from December and April, and in California from January into March. Most pigeons sampled were captured in cannon nets (Colorado) and drop traps (California). Those from Mexico were shot. In all, blood films were available from 475 pigeons: 364 from Colorado, 105 from California, and 6 from the Durango-Sinaloa border in Mexico. Blood films from Colorado were from 8 of at least 19 subpopulations (Braun 1976) and were well distributed within the state. The California films were from Pebble Beach within the winter and breeding ranges of the Coastal population. The few samples from Mexico were from within the winter range of the Interior population (Braun et al. 1975). Bone marrow from 18 of the Colorado birds was examined in saline for try128 J. Wildl. Manage. 41(1):1977 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.172 on Sat, 15 Oct 2016 04:21:23 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms BLOOD PARASITES FROM BAND-TAILED PIGEONS ' Stabler et al. 129 Table 1. Blood parasites of band-tailed pigeons from Colorado and California.a