Elepaio "anting" with a garlic snail and a Schinus fruit
- Author:
-
VanderWerf, Eric A.
- Title:
- Elepaio "anting" with a garlic snail and a Schinus fruit
- Periodical:
- Journal of Field Ornithology
- Year:
- 2005
- Volume:
- 76
- Pages:
- 134-137
- Subject:
-
Elepaio
Champiempis sandwichensis
Land snails
- Summary:
- Anting is an interesting but poorly understood behavior of many bird species. While the purpose of anting is not clear, there is increasing evidence that chemicals contained in ants and other objects in which they "ant" (such as millipedes, caterpillars, flowers, citrus fruit, mothballs, lawn chemicals, and other substances), have antibiotic properties that help to control ectoparasites or fungal or bacterial infections. It is also believed that anting may also be done as a way to soothe irritated skin during feather molting and may be a way of removing unpalatable substances from their food prior to consumption. As a result, this study was done on the anting in the Elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis), a non-migratory monarch flycatcher that is endemic to the Hawaiian islands in an effort to determine the purpose of anting. One study involved a garlic snail (Oxychilus alliarius) and one involved a fruit of Brazilian pepper or Christmas berry (Schinust erebinthifoliuos). These observations are noteworthy since there are no native ants to Hawaii. The same holds true for the garlic snail nor Brazilian pepper that was used in this study. Therefore, these observations represent the first reports of anting in Hawaii and the use of these objects documents chemical properties that may help explain their use in anting.
- Label:
- Birds - Elepaio
- URL:
- http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2074/10.1648/0273-8570(2005)076%5B0134:EAWAGS%5D2.0.CO;2
- Date:
- April 2005
- Collection:
- Periodicals