Identifying & counting white blood cells
For methods associated with making and staining blood smears for WBC and blood parasite identification and quantification please see Owen. 2011. Journal of Field Ornithology.
| Partial field of view through oil immersion (1000x) compound microscope | Description | Partial field of view through oil immersion (1000x) compound microscope |
|---|---|---|
 | Red blood cells RBCs |  |
 | Lymphocyte Red arrows = lympocytes Note: projections along edge and little cytoplasm Blue arrow = clump of thrombocytes |  |
 | Heterophil Green arrow = staining artifact Blue arrow = thrombocyte Red arrow = heterophil |  |
 | Monocyte Blue arrow = thrombocyte Red arrow = monocyte Note: kidney shaped nucleus, smooth edge, and large cytoplasm |  |
 | Eosinophil Red arrow = eosinophil Note: roundish granules, light blue cytoplasm Blue arrow=heterophil Green arrow= monocyte |  |
 | Heterophil variations (left)basophilic heterophil (right) lysed heterophil Note: granules surrounding lysed cell |  |
Blue arrow = monocyte
Orange arrow=eosinophil; notice the bluish cytoplasm
Green arrow = thrombocytes
Red arrow = lymphocyte
Black arrow = heterophil