MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Ok know-it-alls. We're discussing, in the office, why magpies lie on the grass with their wings laid out. I say its to get insects to crawl on them. Anyone know the facts?
It's because they're totally pi55ed.
I've never seen a magpie do that
I also adhere to the insect theory, but I don't really know.
Are they not just cooling off, other birds do it too.
Maybe they're hiding all the shiny things they've collected?
I thought that was jackdaws
Just tried google "anting" - WTF "It has been observed by many people that during anting the birds appear to get exceedingly excited"
presumably then it's a bit like flaying your bollocks with nettles, or using that arse lard 😯
Anting!? Brilliant. Pair of £3 Lidl glasses to that man!
not an expert but I now that they are not the only birds to do it, blackbirds do to and so do Jays. Normally its over ant nests the thinking is that they remove Small parasites from the birds feathers. Plus some ants, wood ants I think, spray formic acid which could help to keep them off for longer periods of time.
doh too slow#
- course, they may just be totally pi55ed 😀
They are sunbathing or anting.
I'm sad enough to watch Springwatch occasionally, they said it on there. 😳
anting - lying in the grass with your limbs spread wide for the world to see.
The bird equivalent of dogging?
Plus some ants, wood ants I think, spray formic acid
Anting is [i]only[/i] done for the formic acid. I have observed a tame pet crow do anting. They don't need an ant nest to do it, just a lot of ants running about. As well as spreading out to allow the ants to crawl all over them, they also pick up ants with their beaks, which as a result of squeezing them releases large quantities of formic acid. The other ants crawling over the bird are actually attacking it and are therefore spraying formic acid. The ants do not attempt to remove parasites. I've heard it suggested that corvids can get excited by the such things as a slice of lemon, as they confuse it with formic acid, although I've never tried it. And yes, anting is pretty orgasmic for corvids, and quite amusing to watch.
All magpies are ****s and should be wiped out. We get stacks of them in our back garden and they bully the smaller birds and kill their chicks. I bought a black widow but snapped the elastic but as soon as I get another I'm gonna relieve them of their lives. ****ers!!
tw4t
Yeah, them animals, doing what comes naturally to them...evil ****ers. I always wondered though, who brutalises the magpies when they're litle? It's almost as if it's institutionalised or something.
Crazy dudes.