Common Grackle Anting with Lime Fruit and Its Effect on Ectoparasites

Abstract

A, nting is stereotyped behavior in which birds expose themselves to fluid-secreting ants or other pungent substances. During "active" anting a bird crushes an ant in the bill and rubs it frenetically through its plumage (Rothschild and Clay 1952). During "passive" anting a bird entices ants to crawl through its plumage by crouching or lying on an ant hill with spread wings and tail. Although anting has been recorded for more than 200 avian species, most of them passerines, its adaptive significance remains controversial (Ehrlich et al. 1986, Simmons 1986, Potter 1989). Univ. Press, Oxford. NERO, R. W., AND D. R. M. HATCH. 1984. Common Grackles anting with marigold flowers. Blue Jay 42:212-214. POTTER, E. F. 1989. Response to P. R. Ehrlich, D. S. Dobkin and D. Wheye. Auk 106:163-164. ROTHSCHILD, M., AND T. CLAY. 1952. Fleas, flukes and cuckoos. Collins, London. SIMMONS, K. E.L. 1966. Anting and the problem of self-stimulation. J. Zool. (Lond.) 149:145-162. SIMMONS, K. E.L. 1986. The sunning behaviour of birds. Bristol Ornithol. Club, Bristol, United Kingdom. WHITAKER, L. M. 1957.

How Birds Combat Ectoparasites

“…Although lime juice had no effect, exposure to vapor from the lime rind rapidly killed the lice. This result is not surprising, given that lime peel contains D-limonene, a monoterpene present at high concentrations in the peel oil of many citrus fruits, and which is known to be toxic to a wide variety of arthropods [194]. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that birds use citrus peel, or any of the other substances listed above, as a means for actually controlling their ectoparasites is still in need of in vivo testing.…”

“…Clayton and Vernon [194] performed one such test. The authors observed a Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) anointing itself with half a lime fruit.…”

“…Birds also anoint themselves with a bizarre list of other items, including millipedes [187,188], caterpillars [189], garlic snails [190], bombardier beetles [191], citrus fruits [192,193,194], walnut juice [195], flowers [196,197], lawn chemicals [198] and even mothballs placed in gardens to repel vegetarian pests [199][200][201]. Many of these items reportedly have anti-parasite properties [201], but few careful tests have been carried out.…”

Host correlates of diversification in avian lice

“…Plumage maintenance behaviours include preening by the bill and scratching by the foot; louse burdens increase dramatically after experimental impairment of preening (Clayton, 1991). Bathing, dust-bathing, sunning (Moyer & Wagenbach, 1995) and usage of aromatic herbs (Clayton & Vernon, 1993) probably also play some role in controlling louse burdens. However, the distribution and efficacy of these behaviours are unclear.…”

Chemical Odorant of Colonial Seabird Repels Mosquitoes

“…AVIAN CHEMICAL DEFENSE HAS been discussed in the context of ectoparasites (Simmons 1966, Ehrlich et al 1986, Clayton and Vernon 1993, Dumbacher 1999; but, heretofore no published experiments have speciÞcally addressed mosquitoes. We suggest that birds may use endogenous or exogenous chemicals to repel mosquitoes and other ectoparasites in a manner analogous to human and nonhuman primates (Berenbaum 1995, Valderramma et al 2000, Weldon et al 2003.…”