Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 31;66(8):330-341.
doi: 10.17221/31/2020-VETMED. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Age and sex-related differences in the haematological parameters of captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Helena Gaspar  1 , Ferran Bargallo  2 , Jordi Grifols  2 , Elisete Correia  3 , Maria de Lurdes Pinto  4
Affiliations

Age and sex-related differences in the haematological parameters of captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Helena Gaspar et al. Vet Med (Praha). .

Abstract

African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) are very popular pets, commonly seen in avian clinical practice. Haematological profiles are critical to the understanding of several disease processes, being particularly useful as diagnostic tools in clinical practice, since birds tend to hide clinical signs of disease. We have previously proposed new haematological reference intervals (RI) for captive African grey parrots, and in the present work the basic data obtained was studied in detail to investigate the influence of factors, such as age and sex, on the haematological profile of this bird species. During an 8-year period (March 2009 to July 2017), animals (n = 239) examined in first consultations or check-ups at the Zoològic Veterinaris (Barcelona) were submitted to blood collection at different time points, rendering a total of 459 blood samples. The haematological testing was performed according to the guidelines of the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology to determine the packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), mean haemoglobin concentration (MHC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total erythrocyte count (TRBC), total leukocyte count (TWBC), and differential leukogram with absolute and relative counts. All the haematological testing was performed in an in-house laboratory as previously described. Animals with 0 to 4 years of age showed higher values of PCV (P < 0.001), Hb (P = 0.023) and RBC (P = 0.018), and lower values of MCHC (P = 0.008), WBC (P = 0.012) and heterophils (P < 0.001) than older animals. There were significant differences exhibited in the monocytes (P = 0.035) between different age groups. Females presented higher PCV, Hb and RBC values (P < 0.001) compared to males. Our results suggest that the age and sex influence the haematological parameters in a significant manner in African grey parrots and should be accounted for when assessing the health status of individuals from this species.

Keywords: avian medicine; blood cell count; exotic pets; physiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Allgayer MC, Guedes NM, Chiminazzo C, Cziulik M, Weimer TA. Clinical pathology and parasitologic evaluation of free-living nestlings of the Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus). J Wildl Dis. 2009 Oct;45(4):972-81. - PubMed
    1. Annorbah NND, Collar NJ, Marsden SJ. Trade and habitat change virtually eliminate the grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) from Ghana. Ibis. 2016;158(1):82-91.
    1. Bellwood B, Andrasik-Catton M. Blood analysis. In: Bellwood B, Andrasik-Cratton M, editors. Veterinary technician’s handbook of laboratory procedures. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell; 2014. p. 17-52.
    1. Berkunsky I, Quillfeldt P, Brightsmith DJ, Abbud MC, Aguilar JMRE, Aleman-Zelaya U et al. Current threats faced by Neotropical parrot populations. Biol Conserv. 2017 Oct;214:278-87.
    1. Best JR. Handling. In: Harcourt-Brown NH, Chitty J, editors. BSAVA manual of psittacine birds. Ames, Iowa, USA: British Small Animal Veterinary Association; 2005. p. 31-4.

LinkOut - more resources