The study of the female genital system of Columba livia (Gmelin, 1789) is part of the research on the reproductive biology of Brazilian birds. This work describes the morphological aspects of the ovary of Columba livia, as well as the histological differences observed in the ovarian follicles during the ovocyte maturation process. Ten Columba livia females were studied, whose ovaries had been dissected, fixed in Bouin and Helly solutions, and histologically processed for staining (Hematoxylin-Eosin; Gomori's trichromic and Weigert's technique and Gomori's technique for connective tissue fibers). The ovary has an irregular surface, is located in the abdominal cavity, and relates to the cranial portion of the left kidney and caudal extremity of the left lung. Histological examination shows that the ovary is covered with simple cubical epithelium, underlined by loose connective tissue that continues internally, surrounding the follicles. The ovarian follicles were described, in their different stages of development, with basis on the morphological changes occurring in the ovocyte and in the layers that surround it, in each phase of maturation. Among the follicles, groups lof cells of two distinct types, surrounded by connective tissue, are observable: clear cells with a spherical nucleus, and acidophilic cells with a slightly elongated nucleus. The studies of the ovary of Columba livia reveal histological similarities between this species and Columbina talpacoli (Temminck, 1811), whose ovaries were examined by Ribeiro et al. (1991).
Columbidae; birds; genital apparatus; ovary