Sorry. Off-topic.

At 02:17 PM 2/15/2010, Jim Greaves wrote:
>I've observed Northern flickers "anting". Otherwise, I watched a
>pair of Least Bell's vireo at a nest at the Fillmore Fish Hatchery
>in early 2000's "anting", as they tried to keep ahead of the
>Argentine ants that had invaded a nest about to fledge; one chick
>jumped the nest and was "consumed", but the others survived, only
>AFTER I'd sprayed the ground and base of shrub with ant poison to
>stop the invasion. Net result: 3 of the 4 nestlings survived to
>leave the nest, relatively unharmed. Any who don't like the idea of
>what I did are entitled to their opinions. No one else was there to
>help "each member" of this endangered species survive that day
>[recall the mantra of the Condor Recovery Team] - Jim Greaves,
>Thompson Falls MT
>
>At 01:00 PM 2/15/2010, tweeters-request at mailman2.u.washington.edu wrote:
>>Message: 9
>>Date: Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:47:04 -0800 (PST)
>>From: Gary Wiles <wilesharkey at yahoo.com>
>>Subject: [Tweeters] RFI: Observations of anting behavior in birds
>>To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>>Message-ID: <386117.3680.qm at web112604.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>>
>>Hi Tweeters,
>>
>>During the Olympia Christmas bird count, Kelly McAllister and I
>>came across a flock of starlings performing "anting" behavior at an
>>active ant mound. Anting involves birds picking up and rubbing
>>ants through their plumage, or standing over ants and allowing them
>>to crawl into their plumage. Formic acid from the ants may provide
>>some benefit to the birds, such as feather maintenance or control
>>of ectoparasites, or the birds may simply be trying to rid the ants
>>of formic acid before eating them. It's a widespread but
>>apparently uncommon behavior among birds in eastern North America
>>and other parts of the world. Kelly and I have been working on a
>>short article documenting our observation. Interestingly, our
>>background reading suggests that anting has't been previously
>>reported in the Pacific Northwest. We therefore want to ask
>>readers of Tweeters if they could contact me
>>(wilesharkey at yahoo.com) with any personal observations of anting behavior that
>> they may have for Washington, Oregon, or BC. This may give us a
>> better feel for how common this behavior is in the region. We're
>> interested in knowing the bird species and number of individuals
>> involved, location, month or season of the year, and other details
>> you may recall. Thanks!
>>
>>Gary Wiles
>>Olympia
>>wilesharkey at yahoo.com