Digestive system

Meghan best Organs and their Functions

Oesophagus- a tube that food passes through to get to the stomach.

Crop- the crop allows for temporary storage for food, which lets the sparrow take its time with digestion, and helps soften the food before entering the stomach.

Liver- the birds liver produces bile, which helps with the breaking down of food. It also aids with the absorption of nutrients

Proventriculus- the proventriculus is the first part of the stomach begins the process of breaking down food using pepsin enzymes and hydrochloric acid

Gizzard- this is the second part of the stomach, it uses small stones and sand the the bird picks up while eating to grind the food down until it's very fine.

Organs and their Functions

Small intestine- this is where the food is digested and absorbed. In the small intestine proteins and fats get broken down, and the nutrients are then absorbed through the intestinal membranes and then carried into the blood.

Pancreas- the pancreas produces enzymes used in the proventriculus to break down food. It also aids with the absorption of nutrients.

Large intestine- the tube where all the leftover waste travels through to reach the cloaca.

Cloaca- the cloaca holds waste until the sparrow is able to release it. both feces and urine are released through the cloaca. Dietary Habits of a Sparrow

A sparrow's diet consists mostly of grains,seeds,insects and sometimes discarded food found on city streets. Sparrows find their prey by visiting bright lights at night and following lawnmowers, they catch their prey by pouncing on them and using their beaks to pick them up and eat them. Sparrows also utilize their beaks to grasp small seeds and grains. Digestive System Path

The digestive system starts with the esophagus, which takes the food into the crop, which temporarily stores food and allows it to soften before traveling into the stomach. A house sparrow’s stomach has two parts, the proventriculus and the gizzard. The proventriculus begins to break down the food with pepsin enzymes (created by the pancreas) and hydrochloric acid. The gizzard grinds the food until it’s very fine using sand and small rocks picked up by the sparrow while it’s eating. Next, the food moves to the small intestine, where the food’s proteins and fats are disassembled and absorbed. All the waste that is left over then goes through the large intestine, and is held by the cloaca until it can be released

Nutrient absorption

Nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine by the pancreas and liver. The small intestine uses the bile created by the liver and the pepsin enzymes created by the pancreas to break down the fats and lipids, which is then absorbed by the intestinal membrane and released into the bloodstream. Sparrow's waste elimination

Birds need to be as lightweight as possibles they can fly, so they defecate as often as possible. To conserve as much water as possible, a sparrow's kidneys convert any waste containing nitrogen into uric acid. Before excretion the Uric acid is mixed with any feces the the bird has also produced and both are stored together in the cloaca. Adaptations

House sparrows have many different adaptations to allow them to have a high survival rating. Sparrows have thick rounded beaks adapted for grabbing and breaking open seeds. Birds also have very muscular breasts,this along with birds hollow bones and feathers made up of durable keratin allows them to fly. Sparrows also have short sharp claws that allow them to be securely grip onto branches.

System Adaptations

A sparrow's digestive system has many different adaptations to allow the bird to be as fit as possible. To begin, a sparrow's crop holds any access food the bird swallows, this allows the sparrow to digest its food slowly, which is necessary since a sparrow eats many tough foods that require a long digestive process. Another adaptation is the sparrows gizzard, which utilizes small pebbles and sand swallowed by the bird to help grind down the tough foods the sparrow eats. This breaks the food so that it is very fine, which makes absorbing nutrients easier. The last adaptation is a bird's cloaca. This organ mixes the sparrow's feces and urine with uric acid, making excretion more efficient since it releases both the feces and urine together at once. Sparrows need to be able to defecate quickly and often to keep them light for flight. Benefits

The sparrows digestive system is very vital to their overall fitness. The two step stomach ensures that all food is grinded down very finely, the sparrows crop allows it to slowly digest tough foods, and the efficiency of the sparrow's cloaca all contribute to the birds ability to eat almost anything, which contributes to it’s excellent fitness. Bibliography

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