Maybe the bird just had an itch it was trying to scratch
Scott Rashid
Estes Park
- Original Message -
From: mfg5...@live.com
To: Colorado Birds cobirds@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 7:02 PM
Subject: [cobirds] Bizarre Bird Behavior - anting, dusting, ticking
Observed something rather strange on Sunday driving down my street
about noon. A bird,(sp unidentified but likely a house finch) was
moving/hopping across the street when all of a sudden it threw itself
on it's back and proceeded to flail around, legs bicycling in the air,
body writhing like a
Great observation! Maybe someone will know WazUp?
1) Anting can be ruled out, as that behavior involves a bird purposefully
grasping an ant or millipede
in its bill and rubbing the critter over its feathers. The formic acid in
ants is thought
to kill tiny mites and other bird parasites or
WNV?
On Jul 19, 2011, at 7:02 PM, mfg5...@live.com wrote:
Observed something rather strange on Sunday driving down my street
about noon. A bird,(sp unidentified but likely a house finch) was
moving/hopping across the street when all of a sudden it threw itself
on it's back and proceeded to
