Abstract
A study was conducted to investigate the parasitic diversity prevailing in the natural population of common crow, Corvus splendens from an urban habitat of Kolkata, India. A population of twenty birds were examined for ectoparasites, endoparasites, essential blood parameters and selected histopathological study. The blood samples from two male and two female birds were found to be infected with Plasmodium sp. and the histopathology of the liver of the infected birds exhibited signs of inflammation. Six species of chewing lice were identified from the feathers of the birds. Deformities and developmental anomalies in a significantly large number of the examined lice population were observed. The birds infected with Plasmodium sp. expressed no notable sign of being diseased with respect to the uninfected birds and observed blood parameters like haemoglobin content, total count of red blood corpuscles, serum calcium, magnesium, albumin and glucose did not differ significantly across sexes. The presence of deformed lice in the feathers of the birds probably indicates the host’s unique defence strategy against the ectoparasites although the observation demands further study. As a whole, C. splendens thus emerges as a challenging model for exploration of the host-parasite dynamics.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thankfully acknowledge the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Government of West Bengal, India for providing necessary permission to carry out the study. The authors are thankful to the Principal, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata for providing the necessary infrastructure to carry out the study.
Funding
The expense for chemicals and contingencies with relation to the study was funded by the DBT Star College Grant (Grant No.BT/HRD/11/03/2011, 25.05.2011) [a grant from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India to promote research and innovation in basic and applied science at postgraduate level] to Maulana Azad College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
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All the authors have read and approved the manuscript. Experimental design: SC, AD, MM, LM. Biochemical analysis: AD, EM, SC. Enumeration, staining, histological work, camera lucida: MM, LM, PN, PB, MB, SM, SS, SC. Writing, interpretation and revisions: SM, SR and SC.
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The office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Government of West Bengal, India had provided the permission to entrap and sacrifice C. splendens from Kolkata for carrying out the study vide letter No. 2987/W/4R-1/14(Pl II), 10.07.2014. The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animal, India approved the animal house facility of Maulana Azad College, Kolkata vide letter F. No.- 25/250/2012-AWD, dated 26.2.2014.
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Dey, A., Mallick, M., Manna, L. et al. What Corvus splendens Offers as a Host: Tolerance or Controlled Aggression?. Proc Zool Soc 76, 412–420 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-023-00495-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-023-00495-0