Rook behaviour

I have read that crows are the only species that carry out this activity presumably due to their intelligence but the simple fact is I have seen house sparrows, starlings, as well as crows, rooks, jackdaws magpies, carrying out this too not to mention little owls. Bathing in steam and dust is also not unheard of too presumably as it is in smoke bathing to rid the bird of mites.


Anting is another form of bird behaviour that has yet to be explained even by the experts. Some say birds use the formic acid as a sort of fungicide / insect repellent while other experts say birds get vitamin D from the acid. There are still others that insist it is used to aid preening, there is even a theory that anting is used to induce some sort of high because apparently some birds have been seen to lose control over their bodies e.g. unable to stand / walk. But that would imply that some individuals are in fact drug addicts!


There are of course many more species that participate in these activity than the few I have mentioned and neither is it confined to this part of the world, it may be this phenomena will always remain a mystery known only by the birds themselves. Now that is a thought is it not!


Alan, observation is all