INTRODUCTION

A. Background
Aves is a vertebrate that lives on land, has feathers almost all over its body,
and wings derived from the elements of the middle and distal body so that it can be
used to fly. Aves has no many differences compared to the reptilians who became its
ancestors. Feathers are special structure and very important for birds to fly and Aves
is the class in the subphylum of vertebrates that achieve success of combining the
bipedal nature with flying (Hildebrand, 1984).
The body of pigeon (Columba domestica) is divided into caput, cervix,
truncus and cauda. The caput part is relatively small, consist of a beak made from
maxilla and mandibula, nares located on the upper lateral part of the beak. Aves has
legs used for walking, perching, and also swimming (with the help of interdigital
membrane, has no teeth and has different types of beak depends on its type of food.
Columba domestica is one of the species in Aves class. Belongs to homoitermic
animals, and reproduce by ovipar (laying eggs). Pigeons can recognize their habitat
(Storer & Usinger, 1978).
Pigeons (Columba domestica) is used as the object of this practical lab activity
because it’s very easy to get because it’s one of pet animals. It’s widely selling in the
market with reasonable price. Furthermore because pigeon represents the class of
Aves, the ordo of Columbiformes and family of Columbidae. The anatomy of pigeon
can be easily observed, and the inside organs differ clearly (Djuhanda, 1982).

B. Purpose
The purpose of this lab activity is to observe:
1. The morphology of Pigeon (Columba domestica) as the representation of Aves
class.
2. The anatomy of Pigeon (Columba domestica) as the representation of Aves class.
 II. MATERIAL AND METHODS

A. Material
The tools that used in this lab activity are preparation tray, tweezers,
dissecting scissors, and latex.

The materials that used in this lab activity is Pigeon (Columba domestica) and
chloroform.

B. Methods
The methods that used in this lab activity are:
1. The pigeon was drugged using chloroform.
2. The feathers on the chest wetted first with water and then plucked it carefully.
3. Skin that wraps the chest, crop, and neck are removed.
4. Surgery is performed on the part of origo muscle, to the carina sterni part. The
surgery should be done carefully because there is musculus pectoralis minor
underneath it.
5. Musculus pectoralis mayor is cutted open, then dissect the stomach carefully. Be
careful while doing the stomach, chest and neck part because there are many air
sacs.
6. Organs inside the body started from the digestive system into genitalia system
are ready to be observed.
B. Discussion
Classification of Pigeon (Columba domestica), according to Hoogerwerf (1949):

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Subphylum : Vertebrate
Class : Aves
Ordo : Columbiformes
Family : Columbidae
Genus : Columba
Species : Columba domestica
Birds have a special feature that is the whole body covered in feathers,
except the crus that is tarso metatarsus area which consists of horn scales.
Feathers are the result of epidermal growth that is useful to isolate body heat to
the surrounding conditions. C. domestica body temperature is relatively stable.
Another thing that distinguishes with other low vertebrates is the body
temperature, the ability to fly, the development of voice, hearing, and eyesight
and the way they lay eggs. (Djuhanda, 1982).
Accordance to Zebua et al. (2016), until now, the preservation of pigeons
is still traditional. Pigeons are being extensively kept, which they are released
and roam around for self-feeding. They eat corns, brown rice, and also the
leftover food on the ground. Pigeons are scattered everywhere, and the life of
pigeons depending on the climate as well.
The general morphology of Pigeons is divided into caput (head), cervix
(neck), truncus (body) and cauda (tail). A pair of anterior extremities are wings,
which is folded like the Z letter attached to body when they’re not flying. The
posterior extremities consist of legs, thigh muscles, meanwhile the lower part is
scaly and they have claws. Pigeon’s mouth has rostum (beak) that formed from
maxilla and mandibula. The inner side of the beak has a layer called cera, the
outer side of it has horn substances like layer. On the roof of the upper mouth
there are nostrils (internal nares on the inside and external nares externa). The
organon visus is relatively large and lies laterally to the head with feathery
eyelids. At the medial angle there is a nictitan membrane that can open and close
the eyes. Behind and under each eye there are ear holes hidden under the special
feathers. Under the tail there is cloaca (Blakely & Bade, 2001). Male pigeons
have a larger posture and more active than females. Observations on the neck
and head can also be done to distinguish the sex (sexing). The neck hairs on the
male pigeons are thicker, and the overall texture of the fur is also larger (Blakely
& Bade, 2001).
The digestive system in pigeons (Columba domestica) consists of
the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon and ends in cloaca.
Digestive glands of pigeons include pancreas and liver. Pigeons do not have
vesica felea, because pigeons are grain-eating animals that do not contain much
fat so it doesn’t need to emulsify fat. The gastrointestinal tract of the bird
consists of the beak and is a modification of the tooth, oral cavity, pharynx in the
form of short ducts, the esophagus in the middle of which the base of the neck
extends into a cache which is a temporary storage place and then into the
stomach (Walter & Sayles, 1959).
The stomach is divided into two, gastric and gastric
stomach muscles. Digestion continues into the small intestine consisting of
duodenum, jejunum, ileum and then into the colon and empties into the cloaca.
Duodenum is shaped like the letter U and the proximal and distal part there are
pancreas, ductus cysticus empties into the distal duodenum that carries bile from
the liver directly to the gastrointestinal system. Jejunum and ileum are the small
intestine after the duodenum, intestine parts are not real, rectum is the rough
intestine that empties into cloaca (Walter & Sayles, 1959).
The respiratory system in Columba domestica
consists lungs and air sacs. Trachea which continues into two bronchi in siring
(sound device). The lungs are equipped with air sacs (there are nine pieces, four
in pairs and one median). The active phase of respiration is its expiratory and
inhalation phase (Brotowidjoyo, 1990). Columba domestica requires high levels
of oxygen because of the high metabolism in the body, the lungs are relatively
small and precise. The outer bulge forms a pair of air sacs that enter several parts
of the body, even into the cavity and inside the bone mixed with the bone
marrow outside the lungs. The pouch will expand to allow deflated air to enter
the lungs as the muscles of the body contract especially during flight (Djuhanda,
1982).

The entry of air that rich of oxygen into the lungs (inspiration) is due to
the intercostal muscle contraction so that the ribs move out and the breastbone
moves downward. Or in other words, pigeon inhales the air by enlarging the
chest cavity so that the air pressure inside decrease which results in the entry of
the putside air. the exterior air entering a small part lives in the lungs and most
will be passed on to the air sacs as air reserves. Due to the presence of air sacs,
respiration in birds becomes efficient. Air sacs are present at the base of the neck
(cervical), front chest (anterior chest), between the collarbone (chakacoid), the
chest space at the back (the posterior thorax), and the abdominal cavity
(Nasution et al., 2013)
The urogenital system of pigeon consist of ren that relatively large,
colored in reddish brown, covered with peritonium (retroperitonial). Each ren is
divided into 4 lobes. From the plateau ren is the ventral out of the narrow ureter
towards the cauda and ends in cloaca. The region that comes from renal artery
will be filtered by filtration. Unuseful substances in the blood especially in the
form of ureum will be removed in this filtration process. The ren is metanephros,
with ureter empties directly into the cloaca and there's no vesica urinaria (Jasin,
1992).
Male pigeons have a pair of testes, oval or round, with slippery surface,
located next to the ventral of the most edge ranial penis lobes, when the breeding
season comes it is enlarged, and it’s the site for the manufacture and storage of
spermatozoa. The reproductive tract is the mesonephros tubule forming the
ductus efferens and epididymis. Ductus wolf curled and formed ductus defferens.
On little pigeons, the long distal ductus defferens forms a spindle called glomere.
Near the posterior glomere of the ductus efferens dilate to form a ductus ampulla
that empties into cloaca as ductus ejakulatori. Ductus efferens is associated with
a small epididymis then into the ductus defferens. Ductus defferens has nothing to
do with the ureter when it enters cloaca (Pratiwi, 1996).

According to Kuroda et al. (2013), reproductive system of female

pigeons consist of oviduct, ovary, fallopian tube, tubal osteum, bursa fibrisi and
empties into the cloaca. The main organ of the reproductive system in female
pigeons is the ovary, in addition to the eagle, the aves ovaries that develop only
the left and are located in the dorsal portion of the abdominal cavity. The
reproductive duct is an oviduct that develops only the left side, its shape is long,
curled, attached to the body wall by mesos filing and divided into several parts,
the anterior part is an infundibulum that has an open part leading to the cavity of
the selom as an ostium surrounded by fimbriae next to the posterior is the
magnum that will secrete albumin, then istmus that secrete membrane egg inside
and outside. Uterus or shell gland to produce lime shells.
Fertilization occurs inside the body by way of copulation (Jasin, 1992).
When copulation happens, then the proctodaeum of both birds stick together
strongly, so that the sperm coming out on ejaculation directly into the female
proctodaeum, then to the oviduct. Female organ reproduction consists only of
one left ovary. Tuba is an oviduct of the rustral part, there are glands (Soesono,
1996).
Based on the feathers location, divided into 3 kinds: remiges, tetrices, and
retrices. Remiges in the form of large fur that exist on the wings, symmetrical
shape, functioned to fly. Tetrices consists of small feathers that remove the bird's
body. Rectrises are tail feathers, symmetrical in shape, and as a fly. Based on the
structure, the feathers are divided into 3 kinds, namely: plumae, plumula and
filoplumae. The plumae consists of calamus, rachis, hemp, radii and radioli.
Filoplumae consists only of calamus and hemp alone. Plumula is a feather
smaller than plumae, has a short calamus, pigeon vexillum is not strong because
there is no radioli. Filoplumae is also called hair hair because it looks like a hair
only made by calamus and hemp. Overall form the feathers of trees or vexillum.
Plumulae is a very fine feather (Djuhanda, 1982).
The movement of the C. domestica body is mainly moved by the legs and
wings, also assisted by the tail. The vertebral pars have a dorsal cauda bulge
useful for strengthening the chest wall called procesus. The muscle system in the
body (C. domestica) is essentially rigid, the muscles solely composed of the head
muscles, neck muscles and limb muscles. The machine to fly is a large muscle
located in the chest area. Musculus coraco branchialis is the muscle of its wings,
functioned for rotating the wings (Moment, 1967).
Then the muscles that play a role in the process of flying, are the pectoral
muscles (musculli pectoralis). Pectoral muscles consist of two muscles, namely
pectoral muscle major and pectoral minor muscle. Both ends of the pectoral
muscle are attached to the carina or sterni, while the other end is attached to the
humeral head of the wing next to the ventro lateral (Jasin, 1992). The major
pectoral muscle is the depressor muscle and is associated with the movement of
the wing down when flying. This major pectoral muscle composes one-fifth of
the total body weight of the bird. The minor pectoral muscle plays a role in
lifting up the wings at the time the bird is flying (Sukiya, 2005).
 IV. CONCLUSION

Based on the result and discussion, it can be concluded that:

1. Pigeon (Columba domestica) belongs to Aves class and has feathers as special
structure that’s very important for flying. The morphology of pigeon is divided into
several parts such as caput (head), cervix (neck), truncus (body) and cauda (tail).
Based on the feathers location, divided into 3 kinds: remiges, tetrices, and retrices.
2. The digestive system in pigeons (Columba domestica) consists of the mouth,
esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon and ends in cloaca. Pigeons do not have
vesica felea. The respiratory system in Columba domestica consists lungs and air
sacs. The urogenital system of pigeon consist of ren that relatively large, colored in
reddish brown. Male pigeons have a pair of round and white-colored testes, vasa
defferens and vasa efferens, meanwhile the female pigeons have oviduct, ovary,
fallopian tube, tubal osteum, bursa fibrisi.
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