What happens when birds are "anting"?
by 
wickedwillie
ANSWERS: 2
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Anting is when birds rub insects on their feathers, usually ants that secrete liquids containing chemicals such as formic acid, that can act as an insecticide, miticide, fungicide, or bactericide. It perhaps also can supplement the bird's own preen oil. Instead of ants, birds can also ant millipedes. Over 250 species of bird have been known to ant. Some birds, including starlings, babblers, tanagers, blue jays, and weavers, ant actively, that is, pecking up ants and rubbing them over their feathers. There are also passive anters, who just lie above anthills, such as the Eurasian Jay, crows and waxbills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anting_(bird_activity)
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I used to have an aviary of finches. The finches would allow the ants to crawl all over them, I was told that the ants destroy any mites that might be in the feathers, and that's the cause of the finches 'anting'.
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