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Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

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Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#51

Post by dflock »

everly wrote: post #49
lioeters wrote: post #2

> [A]nting is..where birds rub insects, usually ants, on their feathers and skin. > Some birds will sit still on an anthill and patiently allow the creatures to crawl freely through their feathers. At other times they have been seen to pick the ants up with their beaks and rub themselves with the tiny insects. > Sensing a threat, the ants shoot a spray of formic acid from their abdomens or anal glands which gets abso…

I’m inclined to think it’s akin to recreational drug usage in humans. Crows are supposedly more intelligent/aware than other animals, and with awareness comes existential dread or whatever you want to call it. Lots of humans use drugs to alleviate this and I think it’s plausible that crows do something similar. Hopefully I’m wrong and it’s a more uplifting reason.

Crows definitely get drunk, on purpose, by eating rotten fruit & berries, so this is plausible - although formic acid to the skin seems less fun - but then I'm not a crow.

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#52

Post by rantwasp »

YZF wrote: post #36
rantwasp wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i got to witness a murder of crow harassing 2 bald eagles until the eagles just gave up and left. we’re not even talking a lot. There were maybe 6-7 crows. The theory I heard is the bald eagle(s) could easily take them on but they risk injury and the crows will try to mess them up. So the eagles just don’t risk it and move on + hunt things that don’t fight back (like rabbits). also, I can swear that crows taunt my do…

Around here (BC, Canada) you'll see a single crow chasing away a bald eagle. They get very aggressive when they're protecting their nests.

lol. the eagle is something like: whatever man, I don't need this shift :)

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#53

Post by YZF »

amanaplanacanal wrote: post #46
YZF wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around here (BC, Canada) you'll see a single crow chasing away a bald eagle. They get very aggressive when they're protecting their nests.

I’m south of you in Oregon, and I’ve seen a single crow chase away a red tailed Hawk. It’s definitely a strange sight.

The eagles are somewhat less maneuverable- crows are very nimble flyers. I just saw a crow on my walk today land backwards in the wind. They can avoid the claws and beak... Sort of like a monkey harassing a tiger. They'll actually pull feathers off the eagle. Every now and then the eagles pull some crazy moves though to get away, they'll tilt sideways and fall. It's like a move you might see in fighter jet dogfights.

Around here harriers also get harassed by the crows.

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#54

Post by cryptonector »

optimalsolver wrote: post #17

>Dr. David Bird, an emeritus professor of wildlife biology with McGill University. Quite an appropriate name. Reminds me of the two most distinguished geologists of our day, Johnny Rockman and Bobby Boulders.

In Austin, TX, there's a urologist famously named Richard Chopp, and his colleagues at the same clinic all have similarly relevant names, like Stephen Hardeman.

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#55

Post by srge »

dflock wrote: post #51
everly wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m inclined to think it’s akin to recreational drug usage in humans. Crows are supposedly more intelligent/aware than other animals, and with awareness comes existential dread or whatever you want to call it. Lots of humans use drugs to alleviate this and I think it’s plausible that crows do something similar. Hopefully I’m wrong and it’s a more uplifting reason.

Crows definitely get drunk, on purpose, by eating rotten fruit & berries, so this is plausible - although formic acid to the skin seems less fun - but then I'm not a crow.

> I’m not a crow

I can see that

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#56

Post by kulu2002 »

every wrote: post #41
birdbrain wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phenomenon of multiple prey animals swarming larger predators to drive them off is known as mobbing.[0] Crows seem to do it quite readily. Very cool that you got to see it! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobbing_(animal_behavior)

I got to watch it in detail recently at our apartments. Starlings mobbed a hawk and drove it away several times...

Almost everyday a barn owl is being mobbed by crows. This owl then sits on our bathroom window because it feels safe there. I want to teach these crows lesson for their lifetime

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#57

Post by ficklepickle »

YZF wrote: post #36
rantwasp wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i got to witness a murder of crow harassing 2 bald eagles until the eagles just gave up and left. we’re not even talking a lot. There were maybe 6-7 crows. The theory I heard is the bald eagle(s) could easily take them on but they risk injury and the crows will try to mess them up. So the eagles just don’t risk it and move on + hunt things that don’t fight back (like rabbits). also, I can swear that crows taunt my do…

Around here (BC, Canada) you'll see a single crow chasing away a bald eagle. They get very aggressive when they're protecting their nests.

A single crow chased me off recently by swooping at my head repeatedly. I was just walking down a sidewalk in Vancouver, minding my own business.

It must have had a nest in the tree above the sidewalk.

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#59

Post by DiggyJohnson »

stopping wrote: post #31

Pre-WFH, there were several groups of crows near my office covering distinct territories around my building. I made a habit of feeding and interacting with a few of these groups, every day for several months. Here are my experiences: * I did indeed see a crow "anting" one time, and was initially as bewildered as the photographer in TFA. Surprisingly I was able to get much closer to the bird than they normally allow,…

I think you just described the personal experience of our human instinct to domesticate animals.

Re: Photographer captures 'odd but exciting' crow behaviour known as anting

#60

Post by wkrsz »

srge wrote: post #55
dflock wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crows definitely get drunk, on purpose, by eating rotten fruit & berries, so this is plausible - although formic acid to the skin seems less fun - but then I'm not a crow.

> I’m not a crow I can see that

Disclaimer: IANAC
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