There are relatively few small birds that do not eat insects, and the ant owls are one of them, which does not eat insects, but only ants.
Antbirds belong to the woodpecker family, and are mostly summer migratory birds north of the Yangtze River in China, and winter migratory birds or traveling birds south of the Yangtze River. They move to their breeding grounds in April-May in the spring and from September to October in the fall.
In Beijing, only the spring and autumn can see the ant thrush, generally the autumn migration to Beijing when the stay is longer, but generally only about a week, supplement energy to restore physical strength will continue to migrate south.
I photographed antbirds in Shahe two years ago, but they didn't do well because of too much shade. The protective color of the antbird's body allows it to fully integrate into the environment, especially on pine trees, its feathers and branches are almost integrated, and if it is not active, it is difficult to find.
The antbird that returned to Ritan Park arrived in early September and has been staying for nearly ten days. The most interesting thing is that it does not prey on trees much, always goes down to the ground to hunt, and then flies to the trees to rest when it is full.
There were many ants in the crevices in the rocks on the ground, and there were ant nests, and the antbirds kept foraging on the ground, and its long tongue had mucus that could reach into the ant holes and suck the ants out. It always eats for a while and rests for a while, stops and looks around, does not care about the long guns and short cannons around it, and only cares about eating leisurely.
This antbird is very regular, comes early in the morning, and flies away at 5:30 pm on time. When it walks, it does not "whizz" directly away like other birds, but first flies to the tree for a short rest, rubs its mouth, trims the hair, and then jumps to a higher place little by little, and then spreads its wings and flies away when it reaches the top of the tree.
This time, I finally made an ideal film in Ritan Park. Hope to see it here again next year.