Crop (anatomy)

A crop is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion that is found in many animals, including gastropods, earthworms[1], leeches[2], insects, and birds.

## Contents

* 1 Bees
* 2 Birds
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External link

## Bees

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Cropping is used by bees to temporarily store nectar of flowers. When bees "suck" nectar, it is stored in their crop.[3]

## Birds

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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, the crop is used to temporarily store food. Not all birds have a crop. In adult doves and pigeons, the crop can produce crop milk to feed newly hatched birds.[4]

## See also

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* Esophagus
* Proventriculus
* Gizzard

## References

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1. ↑ Worm World: About Earthworms- http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/pg000102.html
2. ↑ R. T. Sawyer, Leach Biology and Behaviour, Volume II - http://www.biopharm-leeches.com/pdf/bioandbehav.pdf
3. ↑ Honeybee Biology - http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/Plants_Human/bees/bees.html
4. ↑ The Alimentary Canal in Birds - http://www.earthlife.net/birds/digestion.html

## External link

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* The Alimentary Canal in Birds

Template:Digestive system

Template:Digestive-stub

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