The Crow’s Natural Pharmacy: How “Anting” Reveals One of Nature’s Smartest Healing Secrets

When a crow falls ill, it does not search for food, shelter, or even shade. Instead, it goes to a place that might seem strange at first glance: an ant nest. What happens next is one of the most remarkable examples of natural self-medication ever discovered in the animal kingdom.

This behavior, observed not only in crows but in more than 200 species of birds, is known as “Anting.” It is nature’s own pharmacy—simple, instinctive, effective, and astonishingly intelligent.



What Is Anting? The Mysterious Healing Ritual of Birds

Anting is a unique and scientifically fascinating behavior in which birds deliberately use ants to clean, disinfect, and medicate their feathers and skin. It occurs in two primary forms:

1. Passive Anting

In passive anting, a bird—often a crow—finds an active ant hill and positions itself right on top of it.

It spreads its wings wide, lowers its tail, fluffs its feathers, and remains almost motionless. This posture allows ants to crawl deep into its feathers. As they move between the layers of plumage, they encounter the bird’s skin and the small parasites hiding there.

2. Active Anting

In active anting, the bird picks up individual ants in its beak, crushes them gently, and rubs them along its feathers. This deliberate smearing of ant body fluids is not accidental—it is medicinal.

Both methods serve the same purpose: to apply the ant’s natural chemicals to the bird’s feathers and skin.



Why Ants? The Power of Formic Acid

But why ants? And not just any ants—birds choose specific species from the Formicinae subfamily. These ants produce formic acid, a potent natural antiseptic and insecticide that they release as a defense mechanism.

When the ants feel threatened—such as when a crow fluffs its feathers over their nest—they spray formic acid from their bodies. The crow welcomes this.

The Benefits of Formic Acid

Formic acid plays several important roles:

✔ 1. Killing Parasites

Birds often suffer from:

lice

mites

fleas

fungal infections


These tiny organisms hide deep inside feathers, especially in warm and moist areas. Formic acid either kills these parasites or irritates them enough that they crawl out of hiding, allowing the bird to remove them easily.

✔ 2. Cleaning and Conditioning Feathers

Scientists believe formic acid also helps:

soften and condition feathers

maintain sheen and smoothness

preserve the waterproofing ability of plumage


Healthy feathers are essential for flight, insulation, and survival.

✔ 3. Neutralizing Harmful Microbes

Because formic acid is a strong antiseptic, it helps eliminate harmful bacteria and fungi that can grow in dirty or damaged feathers.

✔ 4. Preparing Ants as Food (Optional Benefit)

Some birds seem to use anting to remove the bitter defensive chemicals from ants before eating them. Once the ant has released its formic acid, it becomes a safer and tastier snack.



Crows Know Exactly What They’re Doing

Crows are known for their intelligence—they can solve puzzles, remember faces, use tools, and even hold grudges. Anting is yet another proof of their cognitive abilities.

In the wild, a crow:

recognizes it is sick or irritated

identifies the correct species of ant

deliberately exposes its body to them

knows how long the process should last

repeats the behavior whenever necessary


No one teaches a crow how to do this. It is pure instinct, refined through generations of evolutionary wisdom.


A Natural Doctor Without a Clinic

When humans fall sick, we go to doctors, swallow medicines, or apply ointments. A crow, on the other hand, has no pharmaceutical companies, no hospitals, and no laboratories—but it still understands chemistry better than most people do.

It knows that:

ants release a healing chemical

that chemical kills harmful parasites

exposing its feathers to ants brings relief


This is nature’s version of natural medicine. It may look simple, but the science behind it is complex.



How Scientists Discovered Anting

The behavior perplexed biologists for decades. Early naturalists who observed birds rolling in ant hills did not understand the purpose and assumed it was some sort of unusual grooming ritual.

Only later, through careful experiments and chemical analysis, did researchers confirm:

the role of formic acid

its antimicrobial effects

its ability to kill or irritate parasites


Today, anting is considered one of the most remarkable examples of zoopharmacognosy—the study of animals using natural substances to heal themselves.



More Than 200 Birds Use Anting

While crows are the iconic example, they’re not alone. Anting has been documented in:

Blue Jays

Robins

Starlings

Thrushes

Woodpeckers

Sparrows

Cuckoos


The widespread nature of this behavior suggests that birds discovered this secret thousands—if not millions—of years ago.



What Anting Teaches Us About Nature

Anting reveals profound truths about the natural world:

🌍 1. Animals Understand Medicine Better Than We Think

Birds don’t need human teachers or scientific research. Their bodies and instincts guide them to the right remedy.

🌿 2. Healing Is Everywhere in Nature

Even a tiny insect like an ant can provide powerful chemical tools for survival.

🧠 3. Intelligence in Animals Goes Beyond Survival

Crows don’t just survive—they innovate. They find solutions, adapt, and even treat their own symptoms.

🦠 4. Nature Has Its Own Pharmacy

The natural world is full of hidden cures and biological strategies humans have yet to fully understand.



A Beautiful Reminder from a Humble Crow

When a crow stands over an ant nest, wings open, feathers fluffed, allowing ants to swarm over its body, it is not a meaningless act. It is a silent moment of healing—an instinctive communion between two species where one unknowingly provides medicine to the other.

It teaches us that:

healing doesn’t always require complexity

intelligence exists everywhere in nature

even the smallest creature can play a role in the well-being of another


In a world obsessed with high-tech solutions, the crow quietly reminds us that sometimes nature already knows the cure.