Anting (behavior)
Anting is a self-anointing behavior during which birds rub insects, usually ants, on their feathers and skin. The bird may pick up the insects in its bill and rub them on the body (active anting), or the bird may lie in an area of high density of the insects and perform dust bathing-like movements (passive anting). The insects secrete liquids containing chemicals such as formic acid, which can act as an insecticide, miticide, fungicide, or bactericide. Alternatively, anting could make the insects edible by removing the distasteful acid, or, possibly supplement the bird's own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also use millipedes. More than 200 species of bird are known to ant.[1] A possibly related behaviour, self-anointing, is seen in many mammals.
Active Anting
Anting most commonly occurs on the ground but in some species, birds practice anting on tree branches. A bird will then place the tip of its wing on the ground anting rub its bill containing an ant and rub its wing from the tip of the wing up[1]. The tail is usually tucked between the legs and under the body, which results in the bird being unstable. Birds use one ant at a time and only rub a feather once with an ant. However, there are some cases were an ant is used more than once but never exceeds three uses[1]. There are some exceptions to this as starlings often take a ball of ants in their bills to be used for anting. Active anting happens very quickly and can often be mistaken for regular feather maintenance. This type of anting can last anywhere from just several minutes to half an hour. Most species of birds practice active anting and do this individually or in small groups. Birds may also use 'substitutes' inactive anting. Birds have been seen to use snails, grasshoppers, amphipods and even larvae Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). and these, too, are known to release powerful defensive chemicals.[2]
Another suggestion, based on observation of blue jays, is that the bird makes the insects edible by discharging the harmful acid onto its feathers. Birds were found to show anting behaviour only if the ants had a full acid sac, and with subjects whose acid sacs had been experimentally removed, the behaviour was absent.[3]
It has also been suggested that anting is related to moulting. Correlation with moulting, however, may be attributable to the greater activity of ants in summer.[4]
History
The first scientific writings of this behaviour dates back to 1831. An American ornithologist named John James Audubon described wild juvenile turkeys "wallowed" in abandoned ant hills. The next written reference of this was occurred in 1847 when British naturalist released a manuscript call "Bird of Jamaica". In it he describes how ants remove parasites from a tame crow, while the crow is foraging for food. In 1934 a journalist and amateur ornithologies Alexander Chrisholm published "Bird Wonders of Australia" and in it described a strange relationship birds had with ants. [5] Erwin Stresemann in German as Einemsen then described this behaviour in the German ornithology journal Ornithologische Monatsberichte (Volume XLIII, p. 138) in 1935. Indian ornithologist Salim Ali interpreted an observation by his cousin Humayun Abdulali in the 1936 volume of Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society and included a reference to the Stresemann's paper suggesting that the German term could be translated into English as "anting".[6]
Related behaviours
Dusting with soil from ant-hills has been considered by some as equivalent to anting.[7]
Some birds like antbirds and flickers not only ant, but also consume the ants as an important part of their diet. Other opportunist ant-eating birds include sparrows, wrens, grouse and starlings.[8] European honey-buzzards have been found to gather fresh maple branches on the ground and then spread themselves over it and it has been suggested that this might be a case of tool-use to attract ants for anting.[9]
Similar to anting may be the observed habit some birds show of picking up cigarette butts, sometimes lit, and rubbing themselves with them.[10][11]
References
- ^ Osborn, Sophie A. H. (September 1998). "Anting by an American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus)" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 110 (3): 423–425.
- ^ Clunie, F. (1976). "Jungle mynah "anting" with millipede". Notornis. 23: 77.
- ^ Eisner, T.; Aneshansley, D (2008). ""Anting" in blue jays, evidence in support of a food-preparatory function". Chemoecology. 18 (4): 197–203. doi:10.1007/s00049-008-0406-3. PMC 2630239. PMID 19169379.
- ^ Power, E. E.; D. C. Hauser (1974). "Relationship of anting and sunbathing to molting in wild birds" (PDF). The Auk. 91 (3): 537–563. doi:10.2307/4084474. JSTOR 4084474.
- ^ Morozov, N.S (July 31, 2014). "Why do birds practice anting?". Uspekhi Sovremennoi Biologii. 135: 97-112.
- ^ Ali, Salim (1936). "Do birds employ ants to rid themselves of ectoparasites?". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38 (3): 628–631.
- ^ Kelso, L.; Nice, Margaret M. (1963). "A Russian contribution to anting and feather mites" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 75 (1): 23–26.
- ^ Taber, Stephen Welton (1998). The World of the Harvester Ants. W.L. Moody, jr. Natural History Series. Vol. 23. Texas A&M University Press.
- ^ Camacho, Carlos; Potti, Jaime (2018). "Non-foraging tool use in European Honey-buzzards: An experimental test". PLOS ONE. 13 (11): e0206843. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1306843C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0206843. PMC 6248935. PMID 30462689.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Simmons, K.E.L. (1957). "A review of the anting-behaviour of passerine birds" (PDF). British Birds. 50 (10): 401–424.
- ^ Goodwin, Derek (1955). "Anting". Avicultural Magazine. 61: 21–25.