In the
behaviorBehavior or behaviour refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. Behavior can be conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary....
called
anting,
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s rub insects on their feathers, usually
antAnts are social insects of the family Formicidae , and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants...
s, which secrete liquids containing chemicals such as
formic acidFormic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid. Its formula is HCOOH or CH2O2. It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in the venom of bee and ant stings.In nature, it is found in the stings and bites of many insects of the order...
, that can act as an
insecticideAn insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
,
miticideMiticides or acaricides are pesticides that kill mites. Antibiotic miticides, carbamate miticides, formamidine miticides, mite growth regulators, organochlorine, permethrin and organophosphate miticides are all in this category. Diatomaceous earth will also kill mites by disrupting the cuticle,...
,
fungicideFungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals...
, bactericide, or to make them edible by removing the distasteful acid. It possibly also supplements the bird's own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also use
millipedeMillipedes, known as shongololos in South African English, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s. Over 250 species of bird have been known to ant.
This behaviour was first described by
Erwin StresemannErwin Stresemann was a German ornithologist.Stresemann was one of the outstanding ornithologists of the 20th century...
in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
as
einemsen in
Ornithologische Monatsberichte XLIII.
In the
behaviorBehavior or behaviour refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. Behavior can be conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary....
called
anting,
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s rub insects on their feathers, usually
antAnts are social insects of the family Formicidae , and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants...
s, which secrete liquids containing chemicals such as
formic acidFormic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid. Its formula is HCOOH or CH2O2. It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in the venom of bee and ant stings.In nature, it is found in the stings and bites of many insects of the order...
, that can act as an
insecticideAn insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
,
miticideMiticides or acaricides are pesticides that kill mites. Antibiotic miticides, carbamate miticides, formamidine miticides, mite growth regulators, organochlorine, permethrin and organophosphate miticides are all in this category. Diatomaceous earth will also kill mites by disrupting the cuticle,...
,
fungicideFungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals...
, bactericide, or to make them edible by removing the distasteful acid. It possibly also supplements the bird's own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also use
millipedeMillipedes, known as shongololos in South African English, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s. Over 250 species of bird have been known to ant.
History
This behaviour was first described by
Erwin StresemannErwin Stresemann was a German ornithologist.Stresemann was one of the outstanding ornithologists of the 20th century...
in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
as
einemsen in
Ornithologische Monatsberichte XLIII. 138 in 1935.
Salim AliSálim Ali , born Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Known as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys in India and his books have contributed enormously to the development of professional and amateur...
interpreted an observation by his cousin
Humayun AbdulaliHumayun Abdulali was an Indian ornithologist, and a cousin of Salim Ali. He started with bird egg collection and shikar...
in the 1936 volume of
Journal of the Bombay Natural History SocietyThe Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants, and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Many...
with discussion on Stresemann's paper and the suggestion that the term could be translated in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
as "anting".
Variations
Some birds, including
starlingStarlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for Starling, sturnus. Starlings occur naturally in the Old World, from Europe, Asia and Africa, to northern Australia and the islands of the tropical Pacific...
s,
babblerBabbler may refer to:* Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds* Australo-Papuan babbler, passerine birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea* The Babbler, the journal of BirdLife International in Indochina...
s,
tanagerThe tanagers are a family, Thraupidae, of birds in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux...
s,
blue jayThe Blue Jay is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue", Canadian or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays...
s, and weavers, ant actively; that is, they pick up ants with their beak and rub them over their feathers. There are also passive anters, who simply lie over anthills, such as the
Eurasian JayThe Eurasian Jay is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia...
,
crowThe true crows are large passerine birds that form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on...
s and waxbills.
Some birds have been seen dusting themselves with soil from ant-hills and this has been considered by some as equivalent to anting.
Function
It has been suggested that anting acts as way of reducing feather parasites such as mites or in controlling fungi or bacteria, however there has been no convincing support for any of the theories. The choice of ants used however indicates that the chemicals that they release are in some way important. Some cases of
anting involved the use of
millipedeMillipedes, known as shongololos in South African English, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s and these too are known to release powerful defensive chemicals.
Another suggested function that has been observed in Blue Jays is that it allows the bird to make the ants edible for consumption, by discharging the acid on to their feathers. The birds were found to show anting behaviour only if the ants had a full acid sac and if the acid sac was experimentally removed, the behaviour was absent.
Some suggestions have been that anting may be related to feather moulting however this correlation may also be attributed to greater activity of ants in summer.