Nature’s Healers: How Crows Turn Ants into Medicine

When a crow begins to feel unwell, it doesn’t hide in a tree or retreat to its nest in defeat. Instead, it seeks out a battlefield—a warzone beneath its feet. But this isn’t war against another bird. It’s war against the parasites living on its body.

The crow descends beside an anthill, calmly spreading its wings and fluffing its feathers like a dark-winged offering. What happens next may look like something from a horror film. Dozens—sometimes hundreds—of ants crawl over the bird’s feathers, moving with purpose. To the average onlooker, it might appear like madness. But to the crow, it’s therapy.

This strange and fascinating behavior is known as anting. It’s not just a random fluke of bird behavior—it’s instinctual medicine. The ants, feeling threatened or disturbed, release formic acid, a chemical compound with powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties. The acid doesn’t just serve the ants’ defense—it becomes the crow’s treatment.

Lice, mites, and fungal infections don’t stand a chance. The acid cleans wounds, kills parasites, and soothes itchy or irritated skin. In a world where birds can’t visit the vet, this ritual is their remedy.

And it’s not just crows. Jays, thrushes, starlings, and even parrots have been seen practicing anting. Some birds even crush the ants themselves and smear them directly onto their feathers, like pharmacists creating their own salves from the wild.

What’s remarkable isn’t just the intelligence of the behavior—but its intentionality. These birds are not reacting out of panic. They are choosing ants. They are returning to the same spots. They are using nature with knowledge passed down, not through textbooks, but through generations of instinct.

There are no antibiotics. No clinics. No syringes. Just soil, wings, and an ancient partnership between predator and prey turned healer and patient.

In our modern world of medicines and hospitals, it’s easy to forget that healing existed long before us. And sometimes, it still humbles us—when a crow opens its wings and trusts a swarm of ants to bring it back to health.