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In a bird's digestive system, the crop is an expanded, muscular pouch near the gullet or throat. It is a part of the digestive tract, essentially an enlarged part of the esophagus. As with most other organisms that have a crop, it is used to temporarily store food. Not all bird species have one.
Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight.Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly.
Bird ringing is the term used in the UK and in some other parts of Europe, while the term bird banding is more often used in the U.S. and Australia. [49] bird strike The impact of a bird or birds with an airplane in flight. [50] body down The layer of small, fluffy down feathers that lie underneath the outer contour feathers on a bird's body. [51]
Birds' diets are varied and often include nectar, fruit, plants, seeds, carrion, and various small animals, including other birds. [77] The digestive system of birds is unique, with a crop for storage and a gizzard that contains swallowed stones for grinding food to compensate for the lack of teeth. [ 149 ]
The shape of the beak, which correlates with dietary habits, is important in determining how a bird can crack the seed coat and obtain the meat of the seed. [2] Black-oil sunflower seeds attract the widest variety of birds [3] and are commonly used in backyard bird feeders. [4] Using a variety of seeds can help attract specific types of birds ...
The chalaza (/ k ə ˈ l eɪ z ə /; from Ancient Greek χάλαζα (khálaza) ' hailstone '; pl.: chalazas or chalazae / k ə ˈ l eɪ z i /) is a structure inside bird eggs and plant ovules. It attaches or suspends the yolk or nucellus within the larger structure.
At 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and up to 17.8 cm × 14 cm (7.0 in × 5.5 in), the ostrich egg is the largest egg of any living bird, [2]: 130 though the extinct elephant bird and some non-avian dinosaurs laid larger eggs.
The synsacrum is a skeletal structure of birds [1] and other dinosaurs, [2] pterosaurs, [3] as well as xenarthran mammals, [4] in which the sacrum is extended by incorporation of additional fused or partially fused caudal or lumbar vertebrae. Some posterior thoracic vertebrae, the lumbar, sacral and a few anterior caudal vertebrae are fused to ...