Adrenal gland

Adrenal gland of a chicken (HE): overview

In birds, the adrenal glands (glandulae adrenales) are closely associated to the gonads. In male birds, they only are separated from the cranial part of the epididymis by a thin capsule of connective tissue. In female birds, the left adrenal gland mostly lies embedded in the mesovarium.

The adrenal gland parenchyma is not organized into a cortex and medulla but is composed of intermingled cortical cords (partes corticales) or interrenal tissue and medullary cords (partes medullares) or chromaffin tissue.