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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

#71

Post by jamal-kumar »

ggm wrote: post #12
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…

you left off "self-stimulation" -but, other comments note Crows are amongst the most intelligent of animals. I know it is an outsider theory, but..

Outsider theory? Not really, we use them in scientific studies studying the evolution of intelligence all the time. I think I remember hearing last that they're even capable of metacognition (thinking of thought itself)

https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/24/crows-possess-higher-int...

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

#72

Post by shadowythroaway »

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.

That's an Aptronym https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptronym

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

#73

Post by h0l0cube »

IncRnd wrote: post #44
h0l0cube wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crows (and other animals) are known to learn behaviors from each other, it doesn't need to be genetically encoded

I was answering this comment, "Before cosmetics were available, some people stuck their face to an ants nest, I think the theory was that that could help peeling dead skin," which was not about crow's behaviour - either by nurture or nature. I can't believe that people are actually taking that comment from the parent seriously. All I can say is that people tend to believe whatever they read.

Yeah I read that, but I take your point. I'm open minded to it, there's an assortment of weird remedies and therapies that humans have engaged in. People are so obsessed with their own appearance and go to great lengths to improve it... I mean people stick their feet in ponds and let fish eat all the dead skin off to exfoliate their feet.. this is something you can pay money for in a number of tourist cities.

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

#74

Post by aitchnyu »

vips7L wrote: post #22

I saw some starlings in my backyard doing this yesterday. I thought they were overheating from the heat by the way they were laying, but I guess not!

I think I may have noticed this. I assumed the crow was dying and another one wanted to eat it.

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

#75

Post by hutzlibu »

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

How did you see that?

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

#76

Post by irrational »

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.

Wait, this is the first I’ve ever heard of drugs being used to alleviate existential dread. I’ve never experienced or understood existential dread, so maybe that is why this seems strange to me, but do you have any sources about your assertion?

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

#77

Post by INTPenis »

reedf1 wrote: post #64
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.

My first name is Reed - guess what my favourite thing to do is?

Walking through shallow bodies of water?

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

#78

Post by INTPenis »

karmakaze wrote: post #18
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.

People do seem to gravitate/grow into their names. The one that stands out to me is Schwarzschild radius: schwarz == black.

Schild means shield btw. I had a friend with a schild name and for the longest time pronounced it "child" without them correcting me. I felt so embarrassed when I realized it means shield.

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

#79

Post by thinkingemote »

jamal-kumar wrote: post #68

I grew up on this island where this photo was taken, crows and especially their huge cousins the ravens were some of the coolest creatures on two wings around. I remember one of them coming up to a table where me and my brother were playing uno and the bird just brazenly came up to us and stole one of the cards, we were bugging out because we had borrowed the set from a friend and unfortunately i have a photo of some…

Perhaps the bird copied the behaviour of the human?

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

#80

Post by londons_explore »

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.

Rotten fruit has a lot of calories in it...

Perhaps they aren't intentionally getting drunk, but merely trying to get those calories and being drunk is a side effect?

Being drunk as a bird wouldn't seem to be a good idea from a survival point of view ...

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