Fact or Fiction: Misconceptions about Birds (Part 2)

It has been observed that some birds, landing on an anthill, spread their wings and wait for the enraged insects to attack them, spraying formic acid. Birds use the natural poison of ants to fight other insects — so to speak, fight fire with fire.

This process is called anting or so-called 'bathing in an anthill'. Birds rub ants on their feathers and skin or allow insects to crawl over their bodies.

Formic acid and other substances produced by ants have insecticidal properties. By treating their feathers with them, birds kill or repel parasites, including ticks, lice, and fleas. After anting, birds often continue grooming their feathers in traditional ways: preening with their beaks or bathing.

This peculiar ritual has two forms: active and passive. During the active form, the bird takes an ant in its beak and rubs it on its feathers. In the passive form, the bird squats over a group of ants or lies on an anthill, spreads its wings, and remains in this unnatural pose for a while, allowing ants to get to its feathers.

Birds are very picky in choosing ants for this procedure: they avoid biting species and prefer those that emit streams of formic acid when defending.

Anting has been described in more than 200 bird species from several orders, predominantly in passerines. It is also found in parrots, woodpeckers, the great horned owl, many corvids (such as crows and magpies), and galliformes (such as pheasants and turkeys).

One small bird can be observed in a true winter hibernation. This is the common poorwill, also known as the sleeping nighthawk. One variety of these birds lives in North America and, with the onset of cold weather, hides in rock crevices and falls asleep.

The body temperature of this bird drops to +18 °C instead of the usual +41 °C for birds, and it falls into a deep sleep that lasts all winter. In spring, the sleeping nighthawk "thaws" and starts hunting insects, which also awaken by this time.

The general structure of birds' bodies does not provide for such maneuvers. However, there is a bird that can fly backwards, and it is simply necessary for it. This is the hummingbird — the smallest bird in the world.

The manner of flight and way of feeding of the hummingbird is more like an insect. During flight, the wings of the smallest representatives of this species make up to 100 flaps per second, making very complex screw-like movements, so hummingbirds can not only hover in the air but also move in any direction, including backwards.

Such complex aerial maneuvers are necessary when hummingbirds weave through the thickets of tropical plants, flitting from flower to flower, or chasing small insects.

These "ears" of the owl are not for hearing, they are just a species decoration. Essentially, they are tufts of elongated feathers, the so-called "feathered ears". In males, they are more upright than in females; however, this is noticeable only at close range and in good visibility.

The elongated feathers on the head, which many mistakenly take for ears, help the bird blend in with the surroundings during daytime rest.

In general, birds of prey from the owl family do have ears, but part of these sound-receiving devices is hidden in the feathers on the head. These are small movable folds around the ear openings.

In fact, birds are just warming their legs. This pose is akin to the posture of mammals when they curl up to retain body heat. Birds do almost the same, fluffing their feathers on the body and hiding all protruding body parts: head under the wing, leg in the warm down of the belly.

From monkeys to rats and butterflies, almost all animals have been to space. At first, they experience shock, then adapt without significant consequences, and upon returning to familiar conditions, they adapt quite quickly.

However, one class is threatened with starvation in space. This class is birds. Their digestive system structure has let them down. The fact is that a bird can swallow food only under the influence of gravity.

Seagulls and albatrosses living in places where there is simply no fresh water but a whole ocean of salt water drink salt water and feel great.

Thanks to a special adaptation in the beak near the nostrils, albatrosses separate the salts from the water, fresh water enters the body, and the concentrated "brine" is not wasted but applied to their feathers, making them waterproof.

Wise nature took care of its pets long before humans. And if a human needs a special device for this, and sometimes the help of a doctor, the lapwing bird manages on its own.

In case of intestinal problems, thanks to the long beak and flexible neck, the bird, drawing water into its beak, bends and gives itself an enema. If necessary, it repeats the procedure.

There is a bird that literally sees the world in pink. It is one of the most common birds on Earth. More precisely, there are about a billion of these birds, and they constantly live next to humans. This is the sparrow (correct name — house sparrow).

The feathers of flamingos are white, without any signs of pink. However, their diet includes several types of crustaceans that contain carotenoids, which give the feathers a pink color.

There are as many as six species of flamingos. The brightest representatives of this family are the red flamingos.

In zoos, flamingos are often fed carrots, which contain the yellow-orange plant pigment beta-carotene. Therefore, in the zoo, you can see flamingos with yellow-orange hues.

More interesting facts about flamingos can be found in our article ☛

There is a bird capable of imitating almost any sound. This is the superb lyrebird. These birds have an excellent ability to mimic not only natural sounds but also artificial sounds of the environment.

The superb lyrebird mimics the singing of other birds and the cries of animals it hears around it. The imitation is so convincing that even the real birds, whose sounds it mimics, are deceived.

But the most interesting thing is that this bird can imitate any artificial sound it hears in the forest. These can be the sounds of working foresters and their chainsaws, the sound of the shutter and drive mechanism of a camera, car alarms, and much more.

How this bird imitates a chainsaw, car alarm, camera shutter sound, and much more you can see in our article ☛