This study aimed to determine the morphological characteristics of the palate, choanal slit of two birds of different families; Japanese Quail (JQ) for family Phasianidae and Laughing Dove (LD) for family Columbidae by gross anatomy, scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. The organs of 16 birds (eight laughing doves and eight Japanese quails) were used. The length of the oropharyngeal roof was nearly equal in both birds; it was divided into oral and pharyngeal roofs. The oral roof (palate) was narrow elongated triangular shaped in LD and wide triangular shaped in JQ, and the oral roof (palate) was longer in LD than that of JQ. The ratio of the oral roof (palate) to the total length of the oro- pharynx was 86.36% in LD and 72.82% in JQ. The choanal slit constituted a nearly same percentage of the length of the palate which was 49-50% while to the total length of the oropharynx was 43.19% in LD and 36.75% in JQ. The line of separation between narrow and wide parts of the choanal slit demarcated by caudolaterally directed papillae and mucosal elevation in LD and by a transverse row of V-shaped papillae in JQ. The edges of the rostral narrow part bear small sized wide-spaced papillae having serrated appearance, while the edges of the wide part were smooth in LD. In JQ 3 transverse rows of papillae and one transverse mucosal fold were presented around the choanal slit. The lamina propria of the palate consisted of dense connective tissue, rich in several types of sensory corpuscles; Merkel's corpuscles were the majority of the sensory corpuscles in LD. Herpst corpuscles with variable sizes and shapes were the majority of sensory corpuscles in JQ. Submucosa of the palate on each side of the choanal slit consisted of 2 groups of palatine salivary glands; medial and lateral groups in JQ and few lobules of the medial salivary glands were observed in LD.