Pigeon Crop Milk

This is not relevant to human health, but may be of interest to pigeon enthusiasts.  Abstract: 

The pigeon (Columba livia) is one of the few birds capable of secreting nutrients to nourish squabs. During the incubation period, the crop of the parent pigeon will be thickened. When squabs are hatched, the crop milk will be secreted from the crop and fed to squabs. The nutritional benefits are similar between the pigeon crop milk and mammalian milk, and both of them are regulated by prolactin. Prolactin stimulates the proliferation of crop epithelial cells, which eventually slough to form the crop milk. Evidence suggests that the complex process may be associated with the transcription of the AnxIcp35 gene and the activation of JAK/STAT and Wnt signal pathways. In this review, we summarize the main components and the biological function of the crop milk, the histological changes of the crop and the regulatory mechanism of crop milk secretion.

Non-Traditional Species In Research

An article on some non-traditional species used in biomedical research.  Quote from abstract: "Parrots, budgerigars, cockatiels, and related psittacine species are used primarily in cognition and behavior studies, as well as pharmacology and avian disease research. Caring for these highly intelligent and behaviorally complex animals can be quite interesting and challenging (Kalmar et al. 2010).  Among reptile species, turtles and lizards are most frequently kept in research facilities. Turtles have been extensively used in physiology research and teaching, including investigations of hypoxia and freeze tolerance (Packard and Packard 2004; Overgaard et al. 2007)."