Blood Chemistry and Hematocrit of Captive and Wild Canvasbacks

Haematology and blood chemistry values for several flamingo species

“…However, the cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in this study were higher than the values reported for many other different species of birds (Gee et al, 1981;Perry et al, 1986). It is difficult to know if these higher values of cholesterol are a characteristic of the flamingo species or a consequence of a diet rich in fat, since it is known that serum cholesterol increases in birds fed a diet rich in fat and low in protein (Perry et al, 1986).…”

“…Another factor is captivity, since wild birds tend to have lower plasma glucose than captive birds (Lewandowski et al, 1986). The blood urea values were comparable with those for other avian orders such as Anseriformes and Gruiformes (Gee et al, 1981;Perry et al, 1986), although some birds such as raptors normally have higher values (Gee et al, 1981). According to Sturkie (1965) high blood urea levels may result from ingesting large quantities of animal protein.…”

“…Creatinine levels were also in the range of the values described for different birds (Gee et al, 1981;Perry et al, 1986).…”

“…These enzymes usually increase in clinically ill birds, especially AST, and is commonly used in veterinary diagnosis. The values of our flamingos were slightly lower than other species of birds (Gee et al, 1981;Perry et al, 1986;Puerta et al, 1989).…”

“…LDH is a non-specific and highly labile enzyme which in flamingos has a similar range of activity to other birds (Gee et al, 1981), but is higher than cavasbacks (Perry et al, 1986).…”