Most people know this fact that only mammals produce milk but this fact is half true because mammals have mammary glands to produce milk but others don’t have mammary glands to produce milk but some birds produce milk to feed their children like some birds. Crop milk doesn’t look like mammal’s milk but that is a type of milk.
Crop milk is produced by mostly all Dove and Pigeon. This type of milk is also known as pigeon milk. Apart from pigeons and doves, flamingos, and the male emperor penguin also produces this type of milk. flamingos’ crop milk is a little bit weird because it is secreted from the head of flamingos and it looks like red blood. People who see it the first time will think this is blood and the bird which is producing red milk is injured.
5 Things to Know About Red Crop Milk
(1) What is Crop milk?
Crop milk is a secretion from the lining of the crop. The crop milk is semi-liquid milk that is produced by approx all pigeons and Doves. This milk is highly proteinous than normal milk it contains more amount of protein and fat than normal cow and human milk. The crop milk which is produced by pigeons and doves is known as pigeon milk. This crop milk contains anti-oxidants and immune-enhancing factors which is very helpful to health.
Milk production or secretion of crop milk is controlled by prolactin which is the same hormone that controls lactation in mammals. Like mammals babies, birds babies are also unable to digest normal food when they birth so their mother starts producing crop milk before a few days of hatching eggs.
Flamingos have a special type of crop milk that looks like red blood and is secreted from the head. Because of its red color people are also confused that this is blood and the bird is injured.
(2) Is Red Crop Milk Blood?
Flamingos produce red crop milk which looks like red blood but this isn’t blooded it’s a crop. It is produced from the digestive tract and is used to feed the chick. It isn’t made of hemoglobin so it is not blood.
(3) What is crop milk made of?
Crop milk is made of fat and protein. Crop milk contains a high amount of fat and proteins.
(4) What is flamingo red crop milk?
Flamingos are birds that produce milk to feed chicks. When chicks are very small they can not digest normal food so parents produce milk to feed chicks. Normal crop milk is yellow-colored or white-colored but flamingo produces red-colored milk which looks like blood. This red-colored milk is known as flamingo red crop milk.
(5) How is crop milk produced?
Crop milk production is a four-hour cycle in which proliferation of the crop germinal epithelium process occurs. This process results in the accumulation of the differentiated lipid and protein-containing cells and every 4-hour lactation process happens and this way crop milk is produced.
