The Faecal Microbiota of Captive Gyr Falcons Falco rusticolus (Linnaeus 1758) and Hybrids in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Faecal Microbiota of Captive Gyr Falcons Falco rusticolus (Linnaeus 1758) and Hybrids in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The Faecal Microbiota of Captive Gyr Falcons Falco rusticolus (Linnaeus 1758) and Hybrids in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Zubair Medammal, Lysamma Surya, Ibrahim A Arif, Mohammed Al-Rasheed, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3786095/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Falcons are traditionally used in falconry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and many nations in the region. Many falcon species are kept captive and bred, selecting for their hunting capabilities in many of these countries. Of the several species of falcons, purebred Gyrfalcons ( Falco rusticolus ), the largest among falcons, is greatly appreciated by falconers for its hunting skill. Captive-bred Gyrfalcons can live, reproduce and hunt for long and are more stable. Aspergillosis is a non-contagious fungal disease of wild and domestic birds caused by fungus Aspergillus species. This fungal disease is economically important, being the main cause of mortality in captive birds, especially in falcons. This study assessed the effect of diet on the intestinal bacterial flora through faecal culturing of Aspergillosis-affected Gyrfalcons and discussed the potential of the isolated organisms as pathogens to spread to humans and avian species. An infected male Gyr and hybrid female (Gyr and Peregrine - F. peregrinus ) were fed meat and a fresh chicken-rich diet for faecal samples, and the samples showed equal distribution of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria relatively less harmful. The bacteria recovered here may be transient flora obtained through the diet and, under normal circumstances, may not actually be capable of colonizing and becoming permanent residents in the raptorial enteral tract. Thus, providing falcons with varied healthy diets is the best option in captivity, which could help falconers keep their birds free from infections. Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics Biological sciences/Microbiology Biological sciences/Molecular biology Biological sciences/Zoology Captive Gyrfalcons Hybrids Peregrine purebred etc Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3786095","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":267042255,"identity":"cd54a038-2908-40b8-bbff-8bd22a10cf5a","order_by":0,"name":"Zubair Medammal","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAu0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHgaGBAYGOSQukVqMSdQCBIkNRDtLfkbuwQ8P92xL33C8+QHDjxoGGXNCWhhn5CVLJDy7nbvhzDEDxp5jDDyWhOxjlsgxkEg4ANRyI4eBgbeBgcfgAAEtbBI5xj+AWtINgFoY/xKjhUcixwxkSwJICzNRtkjwvEuzAGoxnAn0y2GZYxKEtci35x6++ePAbXm+480PH76psbEnqAUFABVLkKJ+FIyCUTAKRgEuAAAxPj8BTUAVTQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Calicut","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zubair","middleName":"","lastName":"Medammal","suffix":""},{"id":267042256,"identity":"a96e1585-2c00-40aa-bca8-206cc21a7d39","order_by":1,"name":"Lysamma Surya","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Calicut","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lysamma","middleName":"","lastName":"Surya","suffix":""},{"id":267042257,"identity":"2bf0cc0f-2de5-4732-ad00-3e8f947c0732","order_by":2,"name":"Ibrahim A Arif","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"King Saud University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ibrahim","middleName":"A","lastName":"Arif","suffix":""},{"id":267042258,"identity":"3410922b-ea13-4d83-b31a-2b41844747be","order_by":3,"name":"Mohammed Al-Rasheed","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"King Faisal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohammed","middleName":"","lastName":"Al-Rasheed","suffix":""},{"id":267042259,"identity":"ba78688b-ad06-4f99-9a22-d213dc5baebc","order_by":4,"name":"Abdulla M Al-Salem","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Centre for Wildlife","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdulla","middleName":"M","lastName":"Al-Salem","suffix":""},{"id":267042260,"identity":"25cd6597-cbb2-4eda-912a-6249721f70de","order_by":5,"name":"PA Azeez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bharathidaasan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"PA","middleName":"","lastName":"Azeez","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-12-21 09:44:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3786095/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3786095/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":51412866,"identity":"ecbcb655-5f6e-4424-8bf8-778aa908b761","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-21 05:52:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":295932,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"scientificreport2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3786095/v1_covered_7f97ed9e-3224-491c-a6c6-5a1a9dca0206.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Faecal Microbiota of Captive Gyr Falcons Falco rusticolus (Linnaeus 1758) and Hybrids in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Captive, Gyrfalcons, Hybrids, Peregrine, purebred etc","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3786095/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3786095/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFalcons are traditionally used in falconry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and many nations in the region. Many falcon species are kept captive and bred, selecting for their hunting capabilities in many of these countries. Of the several species of falcons, purebred Gyrfalcons (\u003cem\u003eFalco rusticolus\u003c/em\u003e), the largest among falcons, is greatly appreciated by falconers for its hunting skill. Captive-bred Gyrfalcons can live, reproduce and hunt for long and are more stable. Aspergillosis is a non-contagious fungal disease of wild and domestic birds caused by fungus Aspergillus species. This fungal disease is economically important, being the main cause of mortality in captive birds, especially in falcons. This study assessed the effect of diet on the intestinal bacterial flora through faecal culturing of Aspergillosis-affected Gyrfalcons and discussed the potential of the isolated organisms as pathogens to spread to humans and avian species. An infected male Gyr and hybrid female (Gyr and Peregrine - \u003cem\u003eF. peregrinus\u003c/em\u003e) were fed meat and a fresh chicken-rich diet for faecal samples, and the samples showed equal distribution of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria relatively less harmful. The bacteria recovered here may be transient flora obtained through the diet and, under normal circumstances, may not actually be capable of colonizing and becoming permanent residents in the raptorial enteral tract. Thus, providing falcons with varied healthy diets is the best option in captivity, which could help falconers keep their birds free from infections.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Faecal Microbiota of Captive Gyr Falcons Falco rusticolus (Linnaeus 1758) and Hybrids in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-01-16 15:10:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3786095/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"61dfcc06-9d41-45e9-be51-0c891e15bf23","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 16th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":28130777,"name":"Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics"},{"id":28130778,"name":"Biological sciences/Microbiology"},{"id":28130779,"name":"Biological sciences/Molecular biology"},{"id":28130780,"name":"Biological sciences/Zoology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-02-21T05:44:16+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-01-16 15:10:37","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3786095","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3786095","identity":"rs-3786095","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}