Here's What Crows Taking Ant Baths, Or 'Anting,' Looks Like

After a three-hour walk through a British Columbia nature reserve, photographer Tony Austin had a stroke of luck when a murder of crows landed about 40 feet up the path from him.

 As one bird began violently rolling in the dirt and gravel, Austin snapped photos, he tells Cathy Kearney at CBC News. A closer look at the photos later revealed that the crow wasn’t just getting dusty. Its body and wings had become covered in black ants. 

 More than 200 bird species show anting behavior, which involves fanning their wings out on the ground and picking up insects, usually ants. But capturing a photo of the behavior is rare.

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