A crow in distress does not limp to a vet, hospital, or healing tree. It goes to an anthill. It willingly invites an army of angry ants to swarm its body. No panic. No fear. It spreads its wings like a guest at a day spa and waits for the sting. Welcome to nature’s strangest medical treatment, anting, where birds self-medicate with insect acid instead of antibiotics. And it works.
The Ant Acid Treatment Birds Beg For
Anting is a phenomenon observed in more than 200 bird species, crows, robins, jays, blackbirds, even owls. The bird lands directly on an anthill or picks up ants with its beak and presses them deep into its feathers. The ants retaliate by spraying formic acid, the same natural chemical used in insect defence.
To a predator — agony.
To a bird — anti-parasitic gold.
The acid kills mites, lice, bacteria, and skin fungi. It may even trigger the release of soothing oils from the bird’s own skin glands. Some birds return to the same ant colonies like loyal spa customers. According to Georgia Wildlife, certain birds even shuffle and hop to “activate the ants harder”.
Birds Know the Good Ants From the Bad
Not all ants qualify as beauty therapists. Birds specifically choose formicine ants, the ones rich in formic acid. They avoid biting ants that inject venom through a sting, which causes painful swelling. This raises the argument, instinct or intelligence?
Researchers in Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology note that birds have been seen rejecting ants mid-session if the acid output is “not strong enough”. Some break the ants’ abdomens first, squeezing out the exact amount of medicinal secretion like applying ointment straight from a tube.
No pharmaceuticals. No brand loyalty. Just chemistry and experience.
Is It Hygiene, Pleasure — or Something Deeper?
Scientists still debate the primary purpose. Is it hygiene? Parasite control? Or sensory pleasure?
Some birds enter what zoologists describe as a “trance-like state”. Wings drooped. Eyes half-closed. Zero resistance. A LaFeber avian report even suggests anting might be the bird equivalent of aromatherapy, calm, cleansing, parasitically effective.
Yet the benefits are factual. Birds that ant have cleaner feathers, lower mite load, and smoother plumage. And yes, some species only ant in high humidity, as if selecting spa weather.
