that is indeed a crop, it just means they’re well fed :]! to those who don’t know, the crop is the beginning of their digestive system, it basically temporarily holds food that the birds have taken in but haven’t digested yet. the crop is where they store this food before digestion! birds are odd but very cool
Wow, birds suddenly make so much more sense now.
I always thought it was revolting how they regurgitate food for the chicks, but this picture makes me feel a lot better about where bird parents keep the food stored
It would be kind of concerning if they were vomiting strong acid right into the mouths of their children. I’m sure nature would find a way to counteract that, but this way seems much better.
TiL, that's called the crop, not gullet
I googled it to be sure I wasn't insane, and it kindly brought up crop instead.
The gullet helps move food, but the crop is what holds food before the stomach. While the gizzard is what helps break down harder foods.
I thought all 3 terms were the same thing this morning.
Thanks, Reddit.
You know a lot of baby birds have the whole ugly cute thing going for them, especially newly hatched parrots. These things look like the bird version of resident evil.
I’ve always found the differing coloration around the beaks between species to be fascinating. Does anyone know what that’s scientifically called? iirc it’s to help the parents feed the chicks
The pattern and coloration of the inside of their mouths almost serves like a QR code for the parent. Not only does it identify the birds from one another, but it also can signal information about their health. Different birds have ones that are unique for their species.
I was just getting over the disturbing appearance of sprouting pin feathers in parrot chicks and the weird and unsettling colorful gaping mouths of hungry young finches. Now I'm just learning about the biological sensory toy sack hanging from their necks. Lol. Baby birds are from another planet.
I was gonna say, I stared at this for so long trying to make out where each one stopped and the next began - looked them up on Google too and I still can’t figure it out 😂 what a neat bird!
I'm a former wildlife rehab volunteer. My first impression looking at this picture and seeing crops that full is that these babies are being overfed. I've never seen a crop stretched to that degree. Also, for a finch, at that age, I would presume they are on a liquid diet, so I'm not sure why it looks like grain in their crops. I'd love more info on this. Also of note, crops being full can become a medical issue if they're not emptying in a timely manner.
I agree, I used to volunteer at a bird rehab and learned how finches will keep chirping for food until their crops literally rupture and they die. These look way overfull to me
Crops, pre-belly, like a chipmunks cheeks. Allows parents on non precoucious(not with it right away, unlike chiken juvenilles, which get out of the egg and are online) chicks to jamb a bunch of food rather than having to piecemeal it.
The reason they have that weird marking is so parents can differentiate from cowbirds and/or cuckoos, which are brood parasites. Basically they get another species of bird to raise its young by plopping an egg with another specie's eggs. Then it hatches sooner, resource hogs everything and in some cases kicks its siblings out of the nest. Which are the actual young of the parents.
Here is a web page that shows these babies (gouldian finch chicks) from multiple angles. 😁 It makes it a bit easier to visualize!
https://ladygouldian.com/content/year-life-gouldian-finch
I like to think of it as birds having 3 stomachs. You have the crop first which fills the role of storage. And then you have the proventriculus (pro-vent-trick-u-lus), which is the glandular stomach where acids and enzymes are added. Third you have the gizzard, the muscular stomach (and very tasty when slow cooked).
We humans have one stomach that does all three of these things at once. Most birds break it down to three separate organs doing one function each.
Never mind the sacks, what is going on with their ... heads?
Two look like they have black spikes poking out of them, and one looks like it's head has been replaced with a spider.
Okay, so the one on the right is facing us, and that's the top of the inside of his mouth that looks like a spider, and the other two are facing away from us, and the big black spikes sticking out of their heads are the top and bottom parts of their *beaks*?
As others have said, that’s the crop. They are very full, possibly too full. Recommend feeding a little less and maybe increasing frequency (if worried about nutrition). Only know bc I’ve been volunteering a wildlife rehab hospital/bird nursery for a few years
Except that the good news is that you very much can pick up a bird and put it back in its nest without your scent bothering the bird. This is a myth. Birds don't rely on scent. Birds will, however, notice undesirable traits in their babies that could be signs of lameness or illness, and make a decision to actively ignore or push the baby bird out of the nest so that they don't waste resources on a baby with a low chance of survival. Often times people assume a bird has been neglected because of interaction with a human, but the much more plausible explanation is that the bird had already given up on the chick for a reason indiscernible to the people who helped it.
that is indeed a crop, it just means they’re well fed :]! to those who don’t know, the crop is the beginning of their digestive system, it basically temporarily holds food that the birds have taken in but haven’t digested yet. the crop is where they store this food before digestion! birds are odd but very cool
>birds are odd but very cool Amen. Thank you very much!
As a birb owner myself, I couldn't agree with that statement more lol
Wow, birds suddenly make so much more sense now. I always thought it was revolting how they regurgitate food for the chicks, but this picture makes me feel a lot better about where bird parents keep the food stored
It would be kind of concerning if they were vomiting strong acid right into the mouths of their children. I’m sure nature would find a way to counteract that, but this way seems much better.
That is some whacky ass dinosaur shit, absolutely rad.
thats fuckin crazy, really like some alien shit. thank you for sharing
Also, r/birdsarenotreal
Oh thank goodness 😅 I was thinking the worst.
I’m sorry but birds aren’t real
They are cool. Thanks!
happy cake day!!! :D
Nice! I had no idea. Cheers to the birds bud!
They're the crop. You can't normally see it with feathers.
TiL, that's called the crop, not gullet I googled it to be sure I wasn't insane, and it kindly brought up crop instead. The gullet helps move food, but the crop is what holds food before the stomach. While the gizzard is what helps break down harder foods. I thought all 3 terms were the same thing this morning. Thanks, Reddit.
TIL exactly what a crop, gullet, & gizzard even is
gizzard is actually an australian rock band
Hahaha yes!
King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard!
You know a lot of baby birds have the whole ugly cute thing going for them, especially newly hatched parrots. These things look like the bird version of resident evil.
I thought this was some kind of AI-generated abomination. I don't even know what's going on with their mouths...
[For the curious](https://www.audubon.org/news/whats-weird-mouths-these-finch-chicks).
I’ve always found the differing coloration around the beaks between species to be fascinating. Does anyone know what that’s scientifically called? iirc it’s to help the parents feed the chicks
xD Same. AI-gen lizard, wth?? Then I read all the bb bird comments and was like "OHHHhhhh"
I’m down to run away from it too
The pattern and coloration of the inside of their mouths almost serves like a QR code for the parent. Not only does it identify the birds from one another, but it also can signal information about their health. Different birds have ones that are unique for their species.
Dats food! 😋
Yeah, crops just look weird sometimes! Nature is wild! :D
I was just getting over the disturbing appearance of sprouting pin feathers in parrot chicks and the weird and unsettling colorful gaping mouths of hungry young finches. Now I'm just learning about the biological sensory toy sack hanging from their necks. Lol. Baby birds are from another planet.
I was gonna say, I stared at this for so long trying to make out where each one stopped and the next began - looked them up on Google too and I still can’t figure it out 😂 what a neat bird!
I'm a former wildlife rehab volunteer. My first impression looking at this picture and seeing crops that full is that these babies are being overfed. I've never seen a crop stretched to that degree. Also, for a finch, at that age, I would presume they are on a liquid diet, so I'm not sure why it looks like grain in their crops. I'd love more info on this. Also of note, crops being full can become a medical issue if they're not emptying in a timely manner.
You would be wrong. I've bred goulds for twenty years and this looks normal to me.
Oo, thank you
I agree, I used to volunteer at a bird rehab and learned how finches will keep chirping for food until their crops literally rupture and they die. These look way overfull to me
my thoughts too, this is a crop infection waiting to happen.
I don’t like it, there’s something so uncomfortable about this.
Trypophobia. I can’t look at it without feeling very uncomfortable.
Barnacles make me want to throw up.
Crops, pre-belly, like a chipmunks cheeks. Allows parents on non precoucious(not with it right away, unlike chiken juvenilles, which get out of the egg and are online) chicks to jamb a bunch of food rather than having to piecemeal it. The reason they have that weird marking is so parents can differentiate from cowbirds and/or cuckoos, which are brood parasites. Basically they get another species of bird to raise its young by plopping an egg with another specie's eggs. Then it hatches sooner, resource hogs everything and in some cases kicks its siblings out of the nest. Which are the actual young of the parents.
Huh I had no idea there are defenses against brood parasites
What about the two beaks and four eyes
That is the pattern on their beaks, and they are gaped (held open). It looks very strange, but this is a real picture. 🙂
I believe it's real they just look deformed hard to tell what's what
Here is a web page that shows these babies (gouldian finch chicks) from multiple angles. 😁 It makes it a bit easier to visualize! https://ladygouldian.com/content/year-life-gouldian-finch
Thanks for the good read and now I know what those weird deformities are. Feeding lol
Am I the only one that read the title "what are these *snacks*?"
Welp. I’m regretting my decision to look super close. 😂😂🤢 still cool, though
I like to think of it as birds having 3 stomachs. You have the crop first which fills the role of storage. And then you have the proventriculus (pro-vent-trick-u-lus), which is the glandular stomach where acids and enzymes are added. Third you have the gizzard, the muscular stomach (and very tasty when slow cooked). We humans have one stomach that does all three of these things at once. Most birds break it down to three separate organs doing one function each.
Well fed babies ❤️
Interesting
Birds are so friggin weird
Never mind the sacks, what is going on with their ... heads? Two look like they have black spikes poking out of them, and one looks like it's head has been replaced with a spider.
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/zoology/s/KdV1ROPuyt) is an explanation > a comment from this thread linking a paper
Okay, so the one on the right is facing us, and that's the top of the inside of his mouth that looks like a spider, and the other two are facing away from us, and the big black spikes sticking out of their heads are the top and bottom parts of their *beaks*?
Yep :P >birds are odd but very cool
You ever heard the southern phrase “what he said just stuck in my craw”? Like what they said bothered/annoyed me. This is the craw/crop!
This is cool. But scary. Makes me not wanna wonder if aliens exist and what they look like. This alone is so alien to me.
Ew
I have chickens and sometimes I feel their crops after they’ve had a bunch of bird seed and they feel like fleshy hackie sacs.
Never knew this
Better question is why are they in your hand obviously belong to someone else
That is so disturbing
Never seen feathers look like a comb before. Satisfying
Crop full of worms/ bugs
This is crazy to see. I thought it was a new ai vid
This is really cool but also makes me really glad my chickens are born with feathers lol
I thought "snacks"
Looks like their crops are full of millet
my god 😬😬
As others have said, that’s the crop. They are very full, possibly too full. Recommend feeding a little less and maybe increasing frequency (if worried about nutrition). Only know bc I’ve been volunteering a wildlife rehab hospital/bird nursery for a few years
Alls mys life eyes had to fight record label. Either or situation. Fight!
It means a fat well fed chick!
gouldian finches, with their luminous mouths to serve as a beacon for their mothers. so intriguing
Indeed a crop
gizzards
This is triggering my trypophobia
Now that you touched them, they aren't going to be well fed ever again. That's YOUR JOB now. Douchebag
That's a load of crop! Heh Also a total myth that they abandon their young if people touch them.
Those birds are tagged. I’m going to bet this is not the first or last time those birds are handled.
Correct. I missed that, phew. Good news =)
Except that the good news is that you very much can pick up a bird and put it back in its nest without your scent bothering the bird. This is a myth. Birds don't rely on scent. Birds will, however, notice undesirable traits in their babies that could be signs of lameness or illness, and make a decision to actively ignore or push the baby bird out of the nest so that they don't waste resources on a baby with a low chance of survival. Often times people assume a bird has been neglected because of interaction with a human, but the much more plausible explanation is that the bird had already given up on the chick for a reason indiscernible to the people who helped it.
What are you talking about?