The habitat occupied by hosts may have important consequences for the risk of parasitism (Tylianakis et al., 2007) and their ecological differences may imply different infestation risks (Begon et al., 1996). Parasites can be stressors and disease vectors for wild communities (Atkinson et al., 2008) and have a negative effect on a host's growth and survival (Hudson et al., 1992, Agnew et al., 2000). Occasionally, high parasite loads may result in a relevant impact on wildlife population trends (Hurtrez-Boussès et al., 1997). The above underline the importance of habitat in wildlife health (Gil and Brumm, 2014), beyond other factors such as food availability or suitability as a breeding area (Sutherland et al., 2004). Nonetheless, the role of habitat selection by hosts in parasite infestation remains largely unexplored (Poulin, 2011).

The growth of urban areas and large cities in recent decades has been accompanied by colonisation by certain species of birds, namely urban exploiters, that have shown an ability to successfully breed in these types of habitats (Murgui and Hedblom, 2017). Variations in parasite loads, i.e., the number of parasites that individual hosts harbour, of these avian communities in response to urbanisation can influence the prevalence, i.e., the percentage of infected hosts, and the impact of their diseases in urban areas (Bradley and Altizer, 2007). Furthermore, knowledge on the host-parasite ecology of urban birds can be of great importance due to to its potential implications for human health (Kilpatrick, 2011), especially in those cases where the proximity of wild birds and humans could result in possible contagion (Lloyd-Smith et al., 2009).

In general, the effects of urbanisation on parasite infections do not exhibit a general pattern and could vary for both the host and the type of parasite studied (Delgado-V. and French, 2012; Sepp et al., 2018). Thus, several studies have reported higher prevalence and abundance of parasites in urban populations than in rural ones (e.g., Giraudeau et al., 2014; Delgado-V. and French 2015). In contrast, different authors have reported a lower incidence of parasites and diseases amongst urban populations than in their rural counterparts (e.g., Gregoire et al., 2002, Evans et al., 2009, Sitko and Zalesny, 2012), and a lack of a relevant effect of urbanisation has even been found (Baardsen, 2021). Unfortunately, the parasitology of most urban birds is poorly known, and most research has focused on species such as the feral pigeon (Columba livia Gmelin, 1789) (Foronda et al., 2004, Marqués et al., 2007), Turdus spp. (Evans et al., 2009, Calegaro-Marques and Amato, 2014) or little passerines (Santiago-Alarcon et al., 2019).

The woodpigeon (Columba palumbus Linnaeus 1758) is a common bird that is widely distributed in both urban and forested areas of Europe (Birdlife International, 2022: www.birdlife.org). In recent decades this pigeon has been colonising urban areas (Fey et al., 2015, Sakhvon and Kövér, 2020) where it tends to reach higher densities than pigeons dwelling in forested areas (Bea et al., 2011, Ammann et al., 2017). Thus, woodpigeons can become very abundant in parks and gardens that are highly frequented by humans (Sakhvon and Kövér, 2020), which makes this species of greater interest in the context of the human-animal interface (Lloyd-Smith et al., 2009). Unlike other strictly urban avian species with small home ranges (Calegaro-Marques and Amato, 2014), woodpigeons can travel several kilometres between breeding or roosting areas and feeding areas (Perea and Gutiérrez-Galán, 2016). In practice, these long displacements imply that two types of breeding populations of woodpigeon should be considered: (i) strictly rural populations of woodpigeons (i.e., rural population), and (ii) urban populations that commonly use rural habitats away from the cities as feeding areas (i.e., urban population). Studies about woodpigeon parasitology have mainly focused on endoparasites such as protozoa or helminths (e.g., Baker, 1966, Villanúa et al., 2006, Olias et al., 2010, Bogach et al., 2021). However, the state of knowledge about woodpigeon ectoparasitology, as well as the effects that urban environments have on its host-parasite ecology, are poorly known.

This research aims to address the influence of urbanisation on the infestation characteristics of woodpigeon ectoparasites, comparing a rural population with an urban population. In parallel, the effect that the higher density of woodpigeons in urban areas could have on their parasitises in contrast to lower density forested areas is considered.