Postmortem findings on a group of Pica pica (Passeriformes: Corvidae)

Abstract

Common magpies (Corvidae: Pica pica) distribute through rural and urban areas of Turkey. Because of their distribution in urbanised regions, magpies may have some potential infectious agents which may relate to domestic animals and humans. In this study, eight common magpies brought to the animal hospital in need of medical intervention were examined for endoparasites and bacteria in a one-year period. Additionally, histopathologic examinations with related organs were carried out along with endo-parasitical, cytological and microbial examination the following necropsy. As results of the necropsies, three parasite species including two helminths and one protozoan (Passerilepis sp., Brachylaima sp., Isospora rochalimai, respectively) were identified, while Staphylococcus xylosus, S. sciuri, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella spp. were isolated after microbiological examination. Histopathology revealed that subacute focal mycotic pneumonia, chronic nonpurulent granulomatous gastroenteritis, verminous enteritis, and the presence of paratyphoid nodules in liver. Both of the parasites and bacteria are the first records for Turkey's helminth/bacterial fauna in wild birds.

EXAMINATION OF HELMINTH PARASITES IN THE FECAL SAMPLES OF MAGPIES (Pica pica), JACKDAWS (Corvus monedula), AND ROOKS (Corvus frugilegus) IN THE VICINITIES OF VAN PROVINCE/TURKEY

“…in the animals. Interestingly, these helminth species were not detected in any of the animals examined in our study which could be associated with regional differences and with the fact that Girişgin et al (2019) only examined eight animals that were brought to the animal hospital for medical intervention. In our study, one trematode (Echinostoma spp.)…”

“…The differences between these rates and the rates found in our study could be attributed to regional differences and to the fact that Halajian et al (2011) examined the animals at post mortem. Girişgin et al (2019) conducted a helminthological examination on P. pica species at post necropsy and identified Passerilepis spp. and Brachylaima spp.…”

Corvids in Urban Environments: A Systematic Global Literature Review

“…In addition to diseases, contamination by human-made pollutants has been documented worldwide in various urban corvids. For example, increased lead concentrations and high levels of dioxins have been detected, and other environmental chemicals have been observed in Eurasian Magpies [ 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 ], Common Ravens [ 142 ], Rooks [ 143 , 144 , 145 ] and Jungle Crows [ 146 , 147 , 148 ]. While these studies emphasize the detrimental impacts of these pollutants on urban wildlife, their biological and physiological implications on the survival or reproduction of wild animals in urban areas are not yet fully understood.…”

Avian trematodes of central European corvids are heterogeneous regarding preferences for host species and age

“…Several large-scale studies were conducted in the 1950s and 1960s in other Eastern and central European countries (Macko 1957;Luft 1960;Stoimenov 1962;Rutkowska 1963;Baruš et al 1972;Koubek and Vojtek 1973). Studies conducted later or in other regions are lacking or include only a few host individuals except for P. pica Todd 1964;Todd and Worley 1967;Ryšavý et al 1970;Mizuno 1984;Borgsteede et al 2000;Halajian et al 2011;Dipineto et al 2013;Girisgin et al 2019;Yilmaz et al 2020;Sitko and Heneberg 2021) and a recent study on C. frugilegus from two cities in Ukraine (Greben et al 2023). A large study of helminths of Corvus corone orientalis in Japan lacked data on prevalence and intensity and reported the recorded helminths together with those from Corvus macrorhynchos japonensis (Mizuno 1984).…”