She knows exactly what she's doing.
Birds have several ways of keeping their feathers neat and tidy — like by preening them with their beaks, or taking soothing baths in water or fine dust. But those aren’t the only tools in their cleanliness toolkits.
Some birds are known to enlist armies of little helpers for the job.
Getty Images/Yannick TylleThe other day, staff at the Umkumbe Bush Lodge shared fascinating footage captured by one of their safari guides in South Africa.
In the clip, a small hornbill bird is seen exhibiting some “very rarely seen” behavior — resting on an active ant colony and allowing her body to be swarmed by the tiny insects.
Though this might seem like nightmare fuel, it’s actually a clever trick.
This bird knows exactly what she’s doing:
Turns out, the bird is practicing a behavior known as “anting.” As the Umkumbe Bush Lodge describes it:
“This is when birds purposely sit atop an ants' nest and allow ants to crawl all over and this assists with cleaning the bird of parasites! Ants secrete formic acid as a form of deterring predators, but some birds absolutely love it.”
Some birds, like the hornbill above, simply sit still and let the ants passively do their work. Others take a more active approach, rubbing ants across their feathers themselves:
Birds, of course, aren't the only animals to enlist the help of others when it comes to keeping clean — sharks do it, rhinos do it, and even warthogs, too.
Perhaps there's really nothing better than getting a little help from a friend, whoever that might be.
