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Bathing in ants!

 
master gardener
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Apparently crows (and other birds) take "baths" in ants.



This NPR Article from a few years ago posits some guesswork explanations, but it seems like no one really knows why they do it.

Me? I think it's just hard for a crow to be *even more* metal than they are naturally, so they have to go to these kinds of extremes.

 
Steward of piddlers
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My skin is crawling just looking at it.

I'm glad i'm not a crow. More ants for them!
 
out to pasture
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I'd heard that the ants spray formic acid on the feathers which acts as an anti-parasitic.
 
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Burra Maluca wrote:I'd heard that the ants spray formic acid on the feathers which acts as an anti-parasitic.



That's the reason they give here too.  Lots of birds do it.  

The flickers and woodpeckers here rub individual ants on their feathers with their beak, slowly squishing the ant as they go.  Then discard it and get another one.

If the chickens find an ant hill, I know they will be mite free for about a year.  Works incredibly well.
 
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A friend of mine used to keep bees and has spoken on the benefits of bee sting therapy. It reminded me of that to hear.
 
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The first scientific writings of this behaviour dates back to 1831. American ornithologist John James Audubon described wild juvenile turkeys that appeared to wallow in abandoned ant hills. Another description was published by a naturalist in 1847 in a manuscript called "Bird of Jamaica". In it the author describes how ants remove parasites from a tame crow, while the crow is foraging for food.[



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anting_(behavior)
 
Anne Miller
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Have you ever wondered what it is like being a raven or crow?

https://theconversation.com/whats-it-like-being-a-raven-or-a-crow-257171?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
 
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Anne Miller wrote:Have you ever wondered what it is like being a raven or crow?

https://theconversation.com/whats-it-like-being-a-raven-or-a-crow-257171?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us



There was a very philosophical movie all about this, starring Brandon Lee...
 
See where your hand is? Not there. It's next to this tiny ad:
A rocket mass heater heats your home with one tenth the wood of a conventional wood stove
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