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Common tapeworms in poultry digestive tracts are called Raillietina species. The present study's objective is to characterize the morphological and genetic relationships between the cestode parasites that infect domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica) in Saudi Arabia's Al-Qassim Region. Using optical and scanning electron microscopes, the general morphology and surface characteristics of the collected cestode parasites were examined. Using sequences from the ND1 and 18S rDNA gene areas, molecular analysis was used to confirm the taxonomy of this parasite based on its morphological characteristics. This demonstrated a high degree of similarity--up to 98.0% and 74.7%, respectively between the 18S rDNA and ND1 gene regions and other cestode species found in GenBank. Using close ties, phylogenetic research validated the placement of this Raillietina species within Davaineidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]