Why do birds practice anting?

Abstract

Anting is the application of ants or "substitutes" of ants by birds to their plumage. The earliest sci entific reports concerning this behavior appeared in the early 19th century, but the targeted collection of facts began in the late 1930s. As a result, anting has been recorded (in nature or/and in captivity) on all but one continent for more than 200 bird species of several orders, mostly passerines. "Active" and "passive" antings are usually recognized as the two main types of this procedure. In the active procedure, birds take ants with their bill and directly smear their feathers. Other manifold (several dozen variants) living and nonliving objects are also used for active anting. The birds practicing passive anting visit ant colonies, provoke ants to attack, and allow them to pass through their plumage. For a given type of anting, the procedure consists of stereotypic movements and postures. Ants belonging to the subfamily Formicinae (mostly Formica, Lasius, and Camponotus), which spray or exude formic acid in attack and defense, are predominantly used, whereas Dolichoderinae and Myrmicinae take second and third places, respectively. Although anting can be studied by manipulative experiments with captive birds, the functions of this behavior remain unclear. It has been sug gested that anting acts as way of (1) ridding of ectoparasites, (2) feather grooming, (3) decreasing skin irrita tion during molt, (4) food preparation (removing pungent effluents from ant bodies before eating them), (5) sensory self stimulation, etc. However, convincing support for any of the hypotheses is still absent.

Non-foraging tool use in European Honey-buzzards: An experimental test

“…However, the literature on anting in birds is dominated by anecdotal observations, as was also in our case, as the behavior is rare despite being taxonomically widespread. Indeed, anting has been described as practiced, either habitually or occasionally, by solitary individuals of about 210 avian species, including at least another diurnal raptor, the Common kestrel ( Falco tinnunculus ) [ 26 – 28 ]. We propose that the issue of tool use by buzzards in relation to anting may be most straightforwardly addressed in captivity, namely in wildlife rehabilitation centers where the staff will be able to easily manipulate the availability of prospective tools and ant abundance while also controlling for the bird’s health.…”

Anti-parasite behaviour of birds

“…Another possible mechanism for combating lice and other ectoparasites is anointing behaviour, in which birds apply pungent materials to their feathers [73,74]. One of the most intriguing forms of anointing is 'active anting', in which birds crush and smear ants into their plumage, or 'passive anting', in which birds lie on ant mounds or trails and allow ants to crawl through their feathers [75,76]. Anting has been observed in more than 200 species of birds, most of them passerines.…”

“…The fact that birds use ants that secrete formic acid or other pungent fluids suggests that the behaviour may kill or deter ectoparasites. However, there is very little actual evidence in support of this hypothesis [2,76].…”

Turquoise Jay (Cyanolyca Turcosa) Self-Anointing (Anting) With a Millipede

“…Self-anoin=ng, also known as ac=ve an=ng, is well documented in birds, including several species in the family Corvidae (Goodwin 1953, Whitaker 1957, Chisholm 1959, Henrdicks 1980, Hendricks & Norment 2015, Morozov 2015, Ohkawara et al 2022. Birds frequently use ants for self-anoin=ng, but may also use "ant subs=tutes" such as other arthropods (Wenny 1998), snails (Terres 1962, VanderWerf 2005, plant material (Groff & Brackbill 1946, Sedgwick 1947, Nero & Hatch 1984, Clayton & Vernon 1993, and other substances (Miller 1952, Nice 1955, Ivor 1958, Elder 2004).…”