Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Gizzard
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Quick Facts
Related Topics:
Bird
stomach
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Gizzard

biology
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

Gizzard, in many birds, the hind part of the stomach, especially modified for grinding food. Located between the saclike crop and the intestine, the gizzard has a thick muscular wall and may contain small stones, or gastroliths, that function in the mechanical breakdown of seeds and other foods. In this sense, the gizzard is comparable to the teeth of other animals. A few other animals, such as earthworms and some moss animals, also have gizzardlike structures.