Vol. 8, Issue 4, Part B (2023)

The present research work was done on the histology and histochemistry of the oesophagus of pigeons and found that the oesophagus was composed of 3 parts: cervical part, crop (middle lobe and lateral lobe) and thoracic part. Histologically, the mucosa of cervical part, crop and thoracic part was lined by stratified squamous non-keratinized to partially keratinized epithelium. The oesophageal glands were absent in cervical part and crop whereas, in the thoracic part these glands were present and their duct open toward the lumen of the oesophagus. The mucosal folds were well developed in the cervical part, lateral lobe of the crop and thoracic part but absent in middle lobe of oesophagus. Histochemically, the epithelium of oesophagus showed PAS positive reaction that indicated presence of neutral mucopolysaccharides, whereas the stratum corneum showed Alcianophilic reaction that indicated presence of acidic mucosubstances by PAS-AB method. The oesophageal glands showed strong Alcianophilic reaction by PAS-AB method and AB method.