The Digestive System

Food enters via the mouth and swallowing is accomplished by the musculature contractions of the pharynx. The food then enters the esophagus and passes through into the crop. The crop functions as a storage area. After the crop, the food enters the gizzard. The gizzard thoroughly grinds the food using muscular action. After the gizzard, food passes through to the intestine. The intestine is the longest organ in the body taking up to about three fourths of it's entire length. The food is digested in the intestine. The segments are folds on the intestinal lining, which can be seen serve to increase the surface area aiding in the total digestion. The intestine is lined with blood vessels that directly absorb the nutrients and carry it to the body tissue.