Parasites of the Mourning Dove (Zenaidura macroura carolinensis) in Illinois

Abstract

The mourning doves used in this study were collected in the field by shooting. Most were obtained during the first 2 weeks of the Sept. 1-30 hunting season, but others were collected in late summer or late in the hunting season. A few were nestlings. Blood smears were made from 464 doves. They were usually made within a few minutes after the doves had been taken in the field, altho smears of some of the doves from Cook County were made from the heart blood several hours after death. Upon return to the laboratory, the smears were fixed with methyl alcohol, stained with Giemsa's stain, and searched for 10 minutes under the oil immersion microscope objective. Sex and age were determined by dissection, and the age of the immature birds was determined more closely by the primary molt stage. Since a high incidence of Haemoproteus was observed in the first year of the survey, a search was made for its probable vector. About 150 doves were placed in tightly sealed envelopes almost immediately after having been killed, and both the doves and the envelopes were examined for hippoboscid flies in the laboratory. In addition, all the birds collected were inspected at least cursorily for ectoparasites while being plucked for weight and fat studies. The plucked feathers of several of them were placed in Berlese funnels to collect ectoparasites. Finally, 42 nests were placed in Berlese funnels to collect their arthropod denizens. The viscera of more than 50 doves were fixed in formalin for helminth examination. RESULTS Blood Parasites. By far the most common blood parasites were Haemoproteus saccharovi and H. maccallumi. The prevalences of these two species in relation to age of host are given for each year in Table I. The prevalence in the 392 immature