Anting Behavior in Birds: Ant Selection and Effect of Ant Chemistry on Feather Ectoparasites Hannah Carrington Revis Old Dominion University
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations Biological Sciences Spring 2002 Anting Behavior in Birds: Ant Selection and Effect of ant Chemistry on Feather Ectoparasites Hannah Carrington Revis Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_etds Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Ornithology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Revis, Hannah C.. "Anting Behavior in Birds: Ant Selection and Effect of ant Chemistry on Feather Ectoparasites" (2002). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), dissertation, Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/b83r-c671 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_etds/83 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Biological Sciences at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANTING BEHAVIOR IN BIRDS: ANT SELECTION AND EFFECT OF ANT CHEMISTRY ON FEATHER ECTOPARASITES by Hannah Carrington Revis B.S. Southern Connecticut State University, May, 1994 M.S. Southern Connecticut State University, May, 1996 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Ecological Sciences OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY May 2002 Approved by: Deborah A. Waller (Director) )aniel E. Sonenshine (Member) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT ANTING BEHAVIOR IN BIRDS: ANT SELECTION AND EFFECT OF ANT CHEMISTRY ON FEATHER ECTOPARASITES Hannah Carrington Revis Old Dominion University, 2002 Director: Dr. Deborah Waller Active anting behavior occurs when songbirds apply ants to their feathers. During anting displays, a bird draws its wings forward in front of the head and swings its tail around to the far right or left. Both wing and tail feathers are then rubbed with ants held in the bird’s beak. The potential associations among ants, feather ectoparasites and birds make anting behavior an important community- level interaction. Although this behavior is cosmopolitan in distribution and occurs in a wide variety of passerine birds, it remains poorly understood. This dissertation tested hypotheses about anting behavior through controlled experiments with captive songbirds in an aviary. Experimental results revealed that bird responses to ants included either consumption without anting behavior, anting displays without ant consumption, or consumption of manipulated ants following anting displays. Birds were highly selective of ant species for anting displays and chose ants from the subfamily Formicinae significantly more often than from the Myrmicinae. Camponotus, Lasius and Aphaenogaster ants were preferred and Pheidole and Crematogaster ants were rejected. Preferred ants were significantly more active than ignored ants and lacked aggressive stinging and biting behaviors. Temperature and humidity did not affect anting displays, but significantly less anting episodes occurred on cloudy days. Feather molt Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. condition was unrelated to anting behavior. Polar and non-polar extracts of preferred and ignored ants were tested for microbial inhibition of potential feather parasites. No extracts inhibited growth of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, B. licheniformis strains 138B and 1432B or the fungi Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium chrysogenum, and Trichoderma viride or fungal spore germination. Formic acid inhibited growth of all microbial species and spore germination of C. globosum. Dust bathing site location in Wild Turkeys was not related to the presence of preferred ant species, indicating no association between anting behavior and dust bathing activity. These experiments represented the first controlled quantitative study to identify biotic and abiotic factors involved in this widespread and complex behavioral pattern. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This thesis is dedicated in loving memory to my Father: R. Theadore Revis Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisor Dr. Deborah Ann Waller for her continuing support and encouragement over the course of this project. I thank the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. D. Sonenshine, Dr. R. Rose, and Dr. D. Naik. Each of these members supplied critical advice and support during the writing stages. Their edits helped make this work a cohesive contribution to anting behavior. I am very grateful to Dr. Kneeland Nesius. His emotional support and friendship have enabled me to navigate all the adventures life gave to me though out my tenure at Old Dominion University. The Virginia Living Museum generously supplied access to their indoor aviary and friendships that added balance to my life. I am grateful to the Cape Hennery Audubon Society, Dr. A. Gordon, Brian Dyer, Dr. R. Bray, John Mathews, Leah Hembre, the Biological Sciences office staff, EM staff, and biological support facility. Finally and most importantly, I wish to give loving thanks to my family: Champe, Bradley, and Lee - Thank you! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................... x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1 ANTING BEHAVIOR.................................................................... 2 ANTS AND PRODUCTION OF CHEMICALS...............................5 HYPOTHESES CONCERNING ANTING BEHAVIOR IN SONGBIRDS.......................................................................... 13 II. THE ROLE OF ANT SPECIES INACTIVE ANTING BEHAVIOR INCAPTIVE SONGBIRDS....................................................21 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................21 METHODS..................................................................................24 RESULTS....................................................................................32 DISCUSSION..............................................................................49 III. POSSIBLE BACTERICIDAL AND FUNGICIDAL ACTION OF ANT CHEMICALS ONCOMMON FEATHER ECTOPARASTIES.............57 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................57 METHODS.................................................................................. 59 RESULTS....................................................................................64 DISCUSSION..............................................................................65 IV. DIFFERENCES IN HABITAT AND ANT SPECIES AMONG WILD TURKEUS’DUST BOWL AND NON-DUST BOWL LOCATIONS... 70 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................70 METHODS..................................................................................71 RESULTS....................................................................................74 DISCUSSION.............................................................................. 77 V. CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................. 86 REFERENCES...................................................................................................91 VITA..................................................................................................................100 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Formicinae ants used during anting displays .............................................7 2. Non-Formicinae ants used during anting displays .....................................7 3. Birds contained in the Virginia Living Museum indoor aviary ...................28 4. Ants presented in single trays at both the Virginia Living Museum and the Weyanoke Sanctuary ......................................................................... 30 5. Ant genera used during anting behavioral displays in single species ant experiments .............................................................................................. 35 6. Songbird interactions with active versus non-active ants .........................36 7. Effect of temperature on songbird behavior in single tray trials ................37 8. Percent humidity’s effect on songbird/ant interactions in single tray tria ls ......................................................................................................... 37 9. Effect of temperature on songbird activities in the songbird aviary in choice trials .............................................................................................. 41 10. Effect of humidity on songbird activity in the songbird aviary in choice tria ls ......................................................................................................... 41 11. Removal of ant type by songbirds in Virginia Living Museum songbird aviary ........................................................................................