There are many species of birds that use the foraging practices of the Eciton burchellii as a source of food.
When the ant colony swarms the forest leaf litter, arthropods flee, which are then eaten by the birds, lizards, insects, and even some mammals that attend the raids.
 However, this source of food can be unpredictable, as the Eciton burchellii colonies' raiding zones are always shifting.
It has been shown that the obligate army ant-following antbird Phaenostictus mcleannani uses a network of individuals to locate swarms.
Each mated pair of birds holds a single dominance zone that they control, which is part of a larger non-exclusive feeding zone occupied by other mated pairs.
Consequently, a single mated pair may track several colonies a day by drawing on the collective knowledge of this larger network.
Departure calls can be used as cues to tell the other mate where the location of the raid is.
However, it has been shown that there is little opportunity for kin selection to influence group feeding in the antbirds.

There are twenty-one species of antbirds that participate in "bivouac checking", which is a specialized behavior allowing for the antbirds to assess the Eciton burchellii colony's foraging activity and current location.
This allows the antbirds to reduce the time spent tracking a colony that is not foraging.
Through bivouac checking, the antbirds might be remembering the correct location of colonies and returning to them at the appropriate time in the colony's foraging cycle.

The antbirds have a parasitic relationship with Eciton burchellii which inflicts a cost that is proportional to the number of birds in the flock.
This imposes a selective pressure on the colonies, as the arthropods collected from these raids represent nearly half of the food consumed by the ants.
To counter-act the antbird's kleptoparasitism, large prey items have been observed to be dragged under the leaf litter before being processed.
Also, food caches arise along the foraging trail, protected by the colony's soldiers.
There are many species of birds that use the foraging practices of the Eciton burchellii as a source of food. When the ant colony swarms the forest leaf litter, arthropods flee, which are then eaten by the birds, lizards, insects, and even some mammals that attend the raids.  However, this source of food can be unpredictable, as the Eciton burchellii colonies' raiding zones are always shifting. It has been shown that the obligate army ant-following antbird Phaenostictus mcleannani uses a network of individuals to locate swarms. Each mated pair of birds holds a single dominance zone that they control, which is part of a larger non-exclusive feeding zone occupied by other mated pairs. Consequently, a single mated pair may track several colonies a day by drawing on the collective knowledge of this larger network. Departure calls can be used as cues to tell the other mate where the location of the raid is. However, it has been shown that there is little opportunity for kin selection to influence group feeding in the antbirds.
There are twenty-one species of antbirds that participate in "bivouac checking", which is a specialized behavior allowing for the antbirds to assess the Eciton burchellii colony's foraging activity and current location. This allows the antbirds to reduce the time spent tracking a colony that is not foraging. Through bivouac checking, the antbirds might be remembering the correct location of colonies and returning to them at the appropriate time in the colony's foraging cycle.
The antbirds have a parasitic relationship with Eciton burchellii which inflicts a cost that is proportional to the number of birds in the flock. This imposes a selective pressure on the colonies, as the arthropods collected from these raids represent nearly half of the food consumed by the ants. To counter-act the antbird's kleptoparasitism, large prey items have been observed to be dragged under the leaf litter before being processed. Also, food caches arise along the foraging trail, protected by the colony's soldiers.
Eciton burchellii