Abstract
Urban pigeons (Columba livia) are widely distributed synanthropic birds closely associated with environments of intense human activity, raising interest in their role in urban microbial dynamics. Here, we characterized the fecal bacterial microbiota of urban pigeons from northern Mexico using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (V3–V4). A total of 1479 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were identified across five pooled samples. Alpha diversity varied among pools, with observed richness ranging from 228 to 514 ASVs. The bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, particularly Escherichia–Shigella and Enterococcus. PICRUSt2-based functional predictions suggested a predominance of predicted metabolic pathways related to carbohydrate degradation and energy acquisition. Conservative taxonomic screening identified 58 gut-associated taxa, including 15 bacteria previously reported in association with humans; however, only three (Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus faecalis, and Proteus mirabilis) showed reported zoonotic associations, all at very low relative abundances (<0.07%). These findings indicate that the fecal bacterial communities characterized in this study were dominated by taxa commonly associated with the avian gastrointestinal tract, whereas taxa that could be conservatively linked to documented zoonotic reports represented only a minor fraction of the detected microbiota. Overall, the results contribute to a more ecologically informed understanding of urban pigeon-associated microbiota within a One Health framework.