Crop (anatomy) Crop (anatomy) A crop (sometimes also called a croup or a craw, or ingluvies) is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion. This anatomical structure is found in a wide variety of animals. It has been found in birds, and in invertebrate animals including gastropods (snails and slugs), earthworms, leeches, and insects. Cropping is used by bees to temporarily store nectar of flowers. When bees "suck" nectar, it is stored in their crops. In a bird's digestive system, the crop is an expanded, muscular pouch near the gullet or throat.
Birds of the Amazon birds that breed in the northern and southern hemisphere but migrate to the Amazon rainforest for food and shelter that are not available at their breeding places during cold months. Migrating birds greatly rely on rainforests for food, rest and recovery after their dangerous migration during which they can lose 30% of their body weight. Since the 1970s, cattle pasture has been the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Land is often cleared for investment purposes due to pastureland prices exceeding forest land prices. In this case, large amounts of forest are torn down and replaced with savanna