FINCHforum

I am so hooked on this forum. I have been reading a lot here and am dreaming of a nice aviary to house all my future birds in. I am not sure what a baby bird crop is. Is it their mouth or their head? they look like embryos to me when newly hatched. People reference crops being full and the whole head looks dark. I am not sure what I am looking at. Anyone care to do an anatomy lesson?

Its a portion of the gut used to store food prior to digestion. In some ways analogous to our stomach.
Copied from the species info page.
Chicks with crops full.
http://www.finchinfo.com/images/species ... arison.jpg

Spreckles

Karen my dear....

Here are some crops for you......

In baby birds, like in my tiny Gouldian baby in the picture, you can see the full crop, where all the little seeds are. As a bird matures and grows feathers, you normally don't see the crop anymore.

WOW this is amazing anatomy for a creature, really incredible.

Great diagrams! Really amazing stuff...