The rare crow behavior known as “anting” was accidentally photographed by Tony Austin, a Canadian photographer. However, he found out when his pictures went viral worldwide.
The crow in the well-known video is sitting on the gravel with dozens of ants all over its body.
It was in the 1830s when this behavior in turkeys was first noted.
That day, a mob of crows descended upon Tony as he was in Victoria’s Swan Lake Nature Reserve.
A bird appeared to be having a dusty bath. Her conduct was peculiar, though; she acted a little strange, lowering her wings on the gravel.
The crow took a leap into the air before landing back on the dirt walkway. I found his behavior to be peculiar. A minute or two later, all of the crows flew and landed in some trees, but none of them seemed to be alarmed, so I thought maybe he was in trouble,” the photographer recalls.
Austin took several close-up pictures while squatting down. He saw ants crawling on the crow when he got home and enlarged the picture on the monitor.
He also became aware of the scope of what he had been able to capture when he posted pictures on Facebook. It turns out that experts find this phenomena, called “anting,” to be incredibly rare and puzzling.
It was not until the middle of the 1800s that this behavior in turkeys was documented.
Since then, scientists are unsure of the precise cause of the birds’ unusual behavior.
The National Australian Federation states that there is a popular belief that birds employ ants to relieve sore skin when they are heavily shedding feathers.
An alternative hypothesis proposes that ants aid in managing parasites residing within the bird’s feathers.
In the meantime, emeritus professor of animal biology at McGill University David Bird contends that insects can be used as food. Still, scientists haven’t reached any firm conclusions.
But Austin found it a pleasant surprise that the photos turned out well.
“Photography has always been my love, and I have done it for my entire life. Sharing this little-known and even less-understood habit with so many people is fantastic. He continued, “This crow and his friends have my sincere gratitude for providing me with an experience that I will never forget.
