Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most important diseases of avian species across the world. The present study was conducted to investigate the carrier potential of four common wild birds towards ND virus. Indian mynah (n=25), house sparrow (n=25), house crow (n=25) and pigeons (n=25) were captured using mist netting technique from the vicinities of different poultry farms. Cloacal swabs were taken and processed for RT-PCR. The carrier potential of pigeons, sparrows, crows and mynah for NDV was found to be 24, 20, 16 and 16%, respectively. These results highlighted that these common wild birds are the major cause of spread of ND viruses and there is need to consider them all as a high risk species for transmitting ND viruses between premises.

Key words: House crow, House sparrow, Indian mynah, Newcastle disease (ND), Pigeons