The pineal organ is a neuroendocrine gland that produces melatonin to regulate sleeping, eating and breeding. Although thought to originate from the neural plate, the specification and development of pineal progenitors has been unclear. Now, Corinne Houart, Clemens Kiecker and colleagues perform gene expression mapping, cell-tracing and genetic experiments in zebrafish and chick to identify the origin of pineal progenitors. Using double in situ hybridisation and immunostaining, the authors find flh/noto-expressing pineal progenitors in the pre-placodal region (PPR) of the non-neural ectoderm. Tracing photo-converted cells from the PPR shows that they indeed contribute to the pineal organ, while knockdown of the PPR reduces pineal organ size. The researchers demonstrate that zebrafish otxH morphants, which normally do not develop a pineal organ, can be rescued by genetic or pharmaceutical inhibition of FGF signalling during gastrulation. Moreover, repression of FGF activity in the non-neural ectoderm during gastrulation ectopically induces pineal identity. Conversely, transplantation of fgf8-expressing cells in zebrafish or electroporation of FGF8 into the chick neural tube inhibit pineal progenitor specification. Together, these results indicate that the pineal organ is specified during gastrulation, in a territory that is mostly located in the non-neural ectoderm and restricted by FGF signalling.