Pepper the Starling - Anting with Water Bubbles

Pepper is now 5 months old. I thought I was going to record him bathing in the bowl but instead he began anting. "Anting has been interpreted as a maintenance behavior in which metabolic products of ants may soothe skin irritated by unusually rapid feather replacement"

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Starling
• anting
• bird
• wildlife

[bluedog1235]

From Wikipedia: "In the behavior called anting, birds rub insects on their feathers, usually ants, which secrete liquids containing chemicals such as formic acid, that can act as an insecticide, miticide, fungicide, or bactericide. It possibly also supplements the bird's own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also use millipedes. Over 250 species of birds have been known to ant."

How cool that your Mom had a crow! Pepper juice? Tabasco? Yikes!

[zestylatree]

Give Pepper a small dish of white vinegar. Starlings love it!

[jewgirl952]

What does that mean? When you say "anting" are you referring to them putting it under their wings (arm pits)? My mother's crow would get high on the pepper juice at the dinner table and would roll around on the table.