For many people, the thought of ants swarming all over their bodies is a nightmare situation. A wildlife guide with the Umkumbe Bush Lodge in South Africa spotted a bird doing this on purpose, though, and this “amazing behavior” has a name: anting. Apparently, there are some surprisingly good reasons a bird like this hornbill might let ants swarm it.
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“Amazing behaviour to see out in the bush!” wrote Umkumbe Bush Lodge in its Instagram post sharing the video. “This is very rarely seen but guide @zaan_snaps had a eagle eye this day and spotted a hornbill practicing a behaviour called anting! This is when birds purposely sit atop a ants nest and allow ants to crawl all over and this assists with cleaning the bird of parasites!”
In addition to parasite control, the lodge further explains that this “next-level dust bathing” might also help the bird with feather maintenance and stimulating feather growth. Despite these benefits, the bird looks uncomfortable as the ants appear to absolutely devour it. Yikes.
Watch as ants swarm a bird in nightmarish fashion here:
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