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Instances of collaboration between humans and wild animals are rare. One of the most noteworthy is that of the greater honeyguide bird, found in Africa, which seeks out humans and solicits their help to get a free meal.
New research published in Science magazine now shows that this intriguing indicator ("indicator" is the genus of honeyguide birds) also responds to human requests for help in finding beehives. The study reveals a mutually beneficial partnership for two very different species.
Follow the bird
The Yao people in Mozambique harvest honey using traditional techniques that have been passed down for generations. Hunters head out into the bush in search of bee hives, but they do not set out alone. They always call a friend: the greater honeyguide.
Honeyguides eat beeswax but are not especially good at obtaining it, since bees tend to react strongly to intruders who enter their hives. Previous studies with other African tribes found that honeyguides seek out humans to help them.
The birds produce a unique call to alert hunters they have found a beehive. Then they flit from tree to tree, leading their human companions to the hive, where they patiently await their reward.
The Yao dispatch the bees using smoke and chop down the tree holding the hive, so they can retrieve the sought-after honeycomb. Once the honey is extracted, the beeswax goes to the honeyguides, along with many of the stunned bees.
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