• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.91-96
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• 2003

To monitor the heavy metal exposure conditions of Feral Pigeons Columba livia, we collected them at commercial area, industrial area, park area and resident area in Seoul. In feathers, iron concentrations were significantly different among habitats(ANOVA, p<0.05), and were the highest at park area. Manganese concentrations were relatively higher at industrial and park area than other areas(ANOVA, p<0.05). In case of copper levels were the significantly highest at park area(ANOVA, p<0.05). Zinc, lead and cadmium had no difference among habitats. Correlation between livers and feathers concentrations were highly significant to copper(r²=0.983, p<0.01) and cadmium(r²=0.632, p<0.01), but iron, zinc, manganese and lead were not significantly different.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.303-307
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• 2001

Some Feral Pigeons Columba livia were collected in commercial, industrial, park and resident areas of Seoul and heavy metal concentrations in their liver, kidney, bone and muscle tissues were measured to compare the levels of exposure by habitats. Statistical analyses showed some differences in the levels of heavy metals among these habitats. The levels of iron in liver and zinc in kidney were lower in resident area than in the other ones. Manganese and copper levels in all tissues were the highest in industrial area and park area, respectively. Lead bone level in resident area was the lowest, while that in commercial area was the highest. Cadmium level in kidney was higher in park area than in the other areas. Of these results, the levels of iron, zinc and lead in some tissues were related to traffic density in each habitats.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2015

This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of helminths parasites from collected fecal samples of 410 feral pigeons (Columba livia) in 3 different areas of Gwangjin-gu, Seongdong-gu and Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul from December, 2011 to July, 2012 in Korea. The fecal samples were examined through by the centrifugation method using formalin-ether solution. The overall prevalence of parasites in the pigeons was 29.27% (120/410). Two nematodes (Tetrameres spp. and Capillaria spp.) and one protozoa (Eimeria spp.) were identified. In the case of nematodes, Tetrameres spp. dominated numerically (58, 14.15%), followed by Capillaria spp. (10, 2.44%) and oocysts of Eimeria spp. were detected in 78 cases (19.02%). This investigation introduces the result of examination on the prevalence of parasites in feral pigeons from some areas in Seoul for the first time.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.329-334
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• 2002

In order to compare the lead and cadmium levels, studies of heavy metal accumulation of feral pigeons from rural (Deokjeok island), central urban (Seoul city), and industrial complexes (Ansan, Busan, Ulsan, and Yochon) were conducted. The outstanding result of this study is that feral pigeons in urban and industrial complex areas contain high Pb and Cd concentrations in kidney, bone, liver, and lung tissues compared to those of rural areas. Such a trend was prominent in the target organs, bone and kidney, about 10 times greater than in rural areas. On the other hand, the lead levels of the Yochon Industrial Complex were noticeably lower than those of other industrial complex areas. Not only feral pigeons habit of street and ground feeding, but also atmospheric metal concentration offers an explanation for the heavy metal concentration differences in the study areas.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.65.1-65.12
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• 2021

Background: To assess the normal retina of the pigeon eye using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and establish a normative reference. Methods: Twelve eyes of six ophthalmologically normal pigeons (Columba livia) were included. SD-OCT images were taken with dilated pupils under sedation. Four meridians, including the fovea, optic disc, red field, and yellow field, were obtained in each eye. The layers, including full thickness (FT), ganglion cell complex (GCC), thickness from the retinal pigmented epithelium to the outer nuclear layer (RPE-ONL), and from the retinal pigmented epithelium to the inner nuclear layer (RPE-INL), were manually measured. Results: The average FT values were significantly different among the four meridians (p < 0.05), with the optic disc meridian being the thickest (294.0 ± 13.9 ㎛). The average GCC was thickest in the optic disc (105.3 ± 27.1 ㎛) and thinnest in the fovea meridian (42.8 ± 15.3 ㎛). The average RPE-INL of the fovea meridian (165.5 ± 18.3 ㎛) was significantly thicker than that of the other meridians (p < 0.05). The average RPE-ONL of the fovea, optic disc, yellow field, and red field were 91.2 ± 5.2 ㎛, 87.7 ± 5.3 ㎛, 87.6 ± 6.5 ㎛, and 91.4 ± 3.9 ㎛, respectively. RPE-INL and RPE-ONL thickness of the red field meridian did not change significantly with measurement location (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Measured data could be used as normative references for diagnosing pigeon retinopathies and further research on avian fundus structure.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.379-382
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• 2002

The present study was to investigate Pb and Cd concentrations in tissues of feral pigeons in urban areas. The Pb levels in bones and livers did not differ between Seoul and Kwangju areas. However, there were significant differences in kidney and liver Cd concentrations between the study sites. These are thought to be a reflection of the metal exposure conditions in the local environment. In particular, metal levels from Seoul were compared with those obtained in the same area between 1991 and 2000 in terms of the long-term biomonitoring approaches. The mean Pb concentrations in bones decreased from 59.1 $\mu$g/wet g in 1991 to 29.5 $\mu$g/wet g in 2000, totaling a reduction in concentrations of approximately 50 percent. However, there were no significant differences in the liver Pb concentrations. Concentrations of Cd in livers and kidneys did not differ between 1991 and 2000.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.502-513
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• 2016

In this study, heavy metal distributions in the tissues of feral pigeon (Columba livia) were characterized using samples collected from bio-monitoring sites (Hangang Park and Hampyeong Park) of the NESB (National Environmental Specimen Bank), Korea, in order to evaluate the feasibility of feral pigeons as an indicator for the environmental monitoring. Cadmium (Cd) was analyzed to be accumulated in kidneys at higher concentration than in the other tissues. Such trend can also be found in the reviews on the Cd accumulations of the 34 cases including 17 avian species which showed that 31 cases had the highest Cd concentrations in the kidney among tissues. However, lead (Pb) was found to be richest in the bones in this study. 17 cases out of 30 reviewed cases had the highest Pb concentration in bones, whereas other 10 cases showed the highest concentration in kidneys, and 3 cases in livers. Therefore, kidneys together with bones can be a main target organ to test cadmium exposure to different habitat environments depending on physiological traits of birds. Zinc (Zn) was found to be the highest concentration in the pigeon livers of Hangang Park, but not in the bones. In contrast, the 13 cases of 16 reviewed cases had the highest Zn concentration in bones, and the 3 cases in livers. In addition, the heavy metal distribution patterns in relations to the metal accumulation mechanisms (a competition between Pb and Ca, a function of methallothionein protein, and etc.) were discussed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.561-577
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• 2015

The heavy metal accumulations of avian eggshells were studied in order to test a feral pigeon (Columba livia)'s eggshell as an indicator for the environmental monitoring of pollutants. The reviews on the eggs of the different 19 avian species showed that it is the eggshell rather than the egg content that can better reflect the heavy metals in the environment; in most cases the CVs (coefficients of variations) of the heavy metal concentrations in the eggshells were higher than those in the egg contents. This can indicate that the heavy metal accumulations are homeostatically controlled in the egg contents, but the accumulations in the eggshells are varied according to the environmental conditions. To test the reviews, the feral pigeon eggs from the two different sites, one representing urban and the other rural environment, were analyzed for lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). The result showed that the eggshells of the urban pigeons (Hangang) had the higher metal concentrations than those of the rural pigeons (Hampyeong). The same difference can also be found in the internal organs (liver, bone) and blood. However, the analyses of the egg contents between the two sites did not reveal the differences. In other words, the result suggests that the feral pigeons, like the other avian species, are able to control the heavy metals into the egg contents homeostatically. Therefore, it is more useful to use the feral pigeon eggshell rather than the egg content in case of monitoring heavy metals in different habitats.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.335-339
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• 2002

Concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cd and Pb were determined in the tissues of sixty adult pigeons collected at six colonies in Korea, and examined correlations between elements, and between tissues in feral pigeons. As the results, we found many significant correlations between elements, and between tissues in them, A negative correlation between Cd and Fe concentrations was observed in the kidney, Cd depresses the absorption of Fe from the intestine and, in this way, affects the levels of Fe in particular tissues. This tendency could be expressed in terms of lower hemoglobin and hematocrit values because hematocrit is one of the most sensitive indicators of Cd intoxication. Zn concentrations are strongly associated with higher Cd levels in the kidney and liver. This is thought to be a reflection of the interaction known to occur between these two metals. Zn induction has been shown to antagonize a number of toxic effects of Cd. A positive correlation between Pb and Fe concentrations was detected in the livers at the Busan colony with relatively high Pb and Fe concentrations. Pb has been shown to co-accumulate with Fe in the liver by inhibiting the heme synthesis. Significant correlations, especially in toxic elements, Pb and Cd, were observed for many pairs of tissues. We suggest that these correlations between elements, and between tissues should be considered in biomonitoring for heavy metal pollution.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.383-389
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• 2002

Pb and Cd concentrations and reproductive progress of feral pigeons were investigated in urban (Seoul) and industrial complex (Ansan) areas from November 2000 to May 2001. Results of the Pb analysis for the feral pigeons from the Ansan industrial complex (egg contents: 1.13 $\mu$g/wet g, bones of adult: 10.5 $\mu$g/wet g) and Seoul (1.64 $\mu$g/wet g, 29.5 $\mu$g/wet g, respectively) indicated that the Pb level of eggs and bones of adults were significantly different between the two colonies (p<0.05). Cd concentrations in liver and kidney of adult pigeons were also significantly different between the Ansan (liver: 0.14 $\mu\textrm{g}$/wet g, kidney: 0.43 $\mu$g/wet g) and Seoul (liver. 0.24 $\mu$g/wet g, kidney: 1.05 $\mu$g/wet g) colonies. (p<0.05). However, egg size and thickness, incubation period and nestling growth rates did not differ between the study areas. Also, clutch size, number of young hatched per nest and number of young fledglings per nest did not significantly different in the noted areas. Considering the lead and cadmium concentrations of pigeons, these were not as high as those considered as results in toxic effects in other species, and the biological significance from these level differences is uncertain.