Bald Eagle Digestive System
Like Most Birds, the Bald Eagle has a multi-part digestive system. The Bald eagle has no teeth so it uses its beak and tongue to break down the prey. After breaking down the prey into pieces it will usually swallow them whole. The saliva helps pass this piece down through the esophagus to the crop. The crop is an organ like structure that is used to store extra food to have as energy reserves. The crop then passes small amounts of food to the stomach. The stomach of a bird has two parts: the proventriculus and the gizzard. The proventriculus uses digestive juices to break down the food. The gizzard breaks up the food even more than it was before. After the gizzard, the food then moves to the small intestine where nutrients are absorbed into the blood. Bald Eagles also use their pancreas to produce insulin for glucose and to neutralize acids in the fluid of the stomach. After passing through the intestines, the waste is excreted through the anus.