Characterization and Comparative Analysis of Gut Microbiomes in Fourteen Parrot Species

Abstract

Although the gut microbiome constitutes a key component of vertebrate physiology, comparative baseline data for companion birds, particularly parrots, remain limited. Therefore, this study profiled the fecal gut microbiota of 31 privately owned companion parrots representing 14 psittacine species maintained in indoor household environments for >6 months. Amplicons targeting the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced, denoised into amplicon sequence variants using QIIME 2 with DADA2, and taxonomically assigned against the SILVA v132 database. Community composition was broadly dominated by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, with recurrent detection of Lactobacillus across most samples, consistent with a potential core component of the gut microbiome of captive parrots. Taken together, this study provides an exploratory comparative snapshot of fecal gut microbiota across diverse companion parrot species and establishes baseline reference data for future research linking diet, husbandry practices, and health to microbiome variation, including longitudinal and wild–captive comparative investigations.