Anting (behavior)

Anting is a maintenance behavior during which birds rub insects, usually ants, on their feathers and skin. A bird may hold a single ant in its beak to rub over the body, or lie in an area of high insect density and wallow as when dust bathing. Ants secrete chemicals like formic acid to aid in their defense against bacteria and parasites. It has been hypothesized that formic acid may help birds avoid similar ailments by acting as a deterrent. Alternatively, anting could make the insects edible by removing the distasteful acid, or possibly supplement the bird's own preen oil. More than 200 species of bird are known to participate in this behaviour. Anting may have a similar function to the mammallian behaviour of self-anointing.