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Haemoproteus Was the Most Common Blood Parasite in Laughing Doves Sampled in Ibadan

Wild laughing dove perched in Twyfelfontein, Namibia
Research · Disease, parasites & microbiology

A study of laughing doves (Spilopelia senegalensis) captured on the University of Ibadan campus in Nigeria found a diverse community of external, blood and intestinal parasites. The study was published on 18 April 2026 in Tradition and Modernity in Veterinary Medicine.

The researchers captured 20 birds—16 males and four females—at ten points on the university campus between October and December 2024. They collected external parasites and examined blood, the gastrointestinal tract and faeces for other parasite groups. The small and strongly male-biased sample is important when interpreting the percentages.

Haemoproteus was detected in 65% of the birds

The most prevalent blood parasite was Haemoproteus, a group of single-celled parasites that live in birds’ blood, detected in 65% of the examined birds. Feather mites in the genus Megninia, which live externally in the plumage, were the most common ectoparasites, occurring in 60% of the birds.

Eimeria oocysts occurred in 90% of intestinal samples

Single-celled intestinal parasites in the genus Eimeria were especially frequent in the gastrointestinal samples. Oocysts—the resistant stages shed by these parasites—were detected in 90% of intestinal-content samples and in 25% of faecal samples.

Because only 20 birds were examined, and 16 were males, these percentages describe this small campus sample rather than population-wide parasite prevalence in laughing doves around Ibadan. The study nevertheless shows that individual doves in this urban environment can host blood, external and intestinal parasites at the same time.

Sources and image credit

  1. Adetuga, A., Ukaonu, R., Nkeiruka Fortunate, O., & Omonona, A. (2026). Morphometry and parasite diversity in Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) captured within University of Ibadan. Tradition and Modernity in Veterinary Medicine, 11(1), 66–80. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19630326Primary peer-reviewed open-access study published 18 April 2026 under CC BY 4.0. Laughing doves captured at the University of Ibadan were examined for morphometry and ectoparasites, blood parasites and gastrointestinal/fecal parasites. Haemoproteus prevalence was 65%, Megninia 60%, and Eimeria oocysts occurred in 90% of intestinal-content samples and 25% of fecal samples.

Image: Giles Laurent / Wikimedia Commons — wild Laughing Dove in Twyfelfontein, Namibia, 27 July 2025; representative African species image, not a bird from the University of Ibadan study; cropped to 16:9. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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