Rare shots of crown 'anting' captured by photographer

August 27, 2021

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Photographer Tony Austin has been enthralled with photography since he was gifted an Instamatic 126 in 1963. But nothing quite prepared him for what was about to happen at the end of a recent nature walk. He ended up documenting a rare sight—a crow taking an ant bath.

Many bird species practice anting, which is typically when a bird will sit on a tree branch and place a wing on the ground to allow one ant at a time to climb onto its feathers. This is known as active anting. What Austin photographed is even more rare.

In this case, the crow actually set itself on top of an anthill to allow many ants to swarm it at the same time. Every once in a while, the crow would shake its head to ensure that the ants stayed off its beak and head. This practice is known as passive anting and is behavior more commonly found in robins and ravens. Unfortunately, scientists still don't understand why birds partake in anting.

A widely held theory, according to the federation, maintains that birds use the ants to soothe irritated skin during periods of heavy feather molting while another theory suggests the ants help control parasites that live in the bird's plumage. One curious theory posited that crows are anting for "self-stimulation."