Crop milk

One Greater Flamingo-chick in Zoo Basel is fed on crop milk.

Crop milk is a secretion from the lining of the crop of parent birds that is regurgitated to young birds. They are found among all pigeons and doves where they are referred to as pigeon milk. Crop milk is also produced by flamingos and some penguins.^[1][2][3]

Comparison to milk

Crop milk bears little resemblance to mammalian milk, being a semi-solid substance somewhat like pale yellow cottage cheese. It is extremely high in protein and fat and contains more of it than cow or human milk.^[4]It has also been shown to contain anti-oxidants and immune-enhancing factors. ^[5] Both male and female adult birds produce crop milk and share in the feeding and care of the young.

Feeding nestlings

Pigeon's milk begins to be produced a couple of days before the eggs are due to hatch. The parents may cease to eat at this point in order to be able to provide the squabs (baby pigeons and doves) with milk uncontaminated by seeds, which the very young squabs would be unable to digest. The baby squabs are fed on pure crop milk for the first week or so of life. After this the parents begin to introduce a proportion of adult food, softened by spending time in the moist conditions of the adult crop, into the mix fed to the squabs, until by the end of the second week they are being fed entirely on softened adult food.

Pigeons normally lay two eggs. If one egg fails to hatch, the surviving squab gets the advantage of a supply of crop milk sufficient for two squabs, and by the end of the first week it is almost as big as two "normal" squabs would be.

Hand-rearing pigeon squabs

The very high nutrient concentration of pigeon's milk makes it difficult to devise an artificial substitute for hand-rearing squabs. Various proprietary mixes are available. A good home-made mix can be made from equal quantities of dehydrated dried pure soy protein (with no added salt, flavorings, preservatives etc.) and soy-based dairy-free butter-substitute (ordinary dairy butter is not suitable, as young squabs' digestive systems cannot cope with dairy products). This is made into a runny paste with a little water, a tiny crumb of a multivitamin tablet and a tiny pinch of chalk (which is necessary for bone development to avoid splay-leg). The crop should be allowed to empty completely between feedings. With care and gentleness, it is possible to raise a pigeon on this mix from the moment of hatching.^{[citation needed]}

Cultural references

• In Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS and Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii, a character named Brewster uses it as an ingredient when serving coffee to long-time customers.
• In the reality TV series Flavor of Love during Season 2, the father of Deelishis requests a crate of pigeon milk at dinner.
• Ptasie mleczko (Polish: bird milk) is the name of Polish candy, which variations are also popular in Eastern Europe countries as Ptichye Moloko (Russian: птичье молоко), ptashyne moloko (Ukrainian: птaшине молоко).

References

1. ^ Levi, Wendell (1977). The Pigeon. Sumter, S.C.: Levi Publishing Co, Inc. ISBN 0-85390-013-2. 
2. ^ Silver, Rae (1984). "Prolactin and Parenting in the Pigeon Family". The Journal of Experimental Zoology 232: 617–625. http://www.columbiauniversity.org/cu/psychology/silver/publications/035Silver%201984.PDF. 
3. ^ Eraud, C., Dorie, A., Jacquet, A. and Faivre, B. (2008). "The crop milk: a potential new route for carotenoid-mediated parental effects". Journal of Avian Biology 39: 247–251. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04053.x. 
4. ^ Bird Milk
5. ^ "Mysteries of pigeon milk explained" Retrieved September 22, 2011

External links

• Article on Bird Milk from stanford.edu
• Article on the relationship between crop milk and clutch size in Mourning Doves (.pdf)
• Smithsonian National Zoo article on Common Crowned Pigeon, includes paragraph on crop milk