The Birds That Help To Look For Honey
Birds are a group of animals that traditionally aren’t thought to be the smartest. However, in Mozambique there is an incredible fact: the birds that help to look for honey.
Honey is a resource that humans have used since the Mesolithic; at least there is such evidence in Valencian cave paintings where a human is depicted with a basket and bees are standing around. In fact, in Neolithic and Ancient Egypt there was already beekeeping as we know it today.
The birds that help to look for honey
It was in the mid-16th century, when a Portuguese missionary observed some birds pecking at the candles of a church, but the birds weren’t just doing that: they were guiding people to the honey.
This incredible relationship of mutualism has surprised scientists to such an extent that this relationship has recently been studied using the scientific method.
This incredible relationship between people and birds takes place in the Niassa reserve in Mozambique. The Yao tribe has a relationship with birds that impresses everyone: they are able to use them as if they were sniffer dogs, and the birds find hives for the tribe.
However, birds do not perform this behavior out of mere altruism: thanks to the tribe, these birds can access the hives without being attacked by bees.
Which species are the birds that help to look for honey?
These birds are known as Indicators and, in particular, the Great Indicator, which is the species we are talking about. Obviously, its name comes from the word state, and they are very close relatives of the toucan and pica – pau.
Indicator birds feed, among other things, on wax. So some of them developed this very curious behavior. In fact, the largest indicator is also known as the honeybird.
How do birds and men communicate?
The extraordinary thing about this relationship is that the Yao tribe makes a specific call passed down from generation to generation, which allows the birds to understand the intentions of men, and this consists of a chirping followed by a short grunt.
Once the birds hear the call, they guide the tribe members to the combs. So humans get honey, while birds delight in wax.
Other tribes such as the Hadza also use this type of calling in Tanzania, and these birds are believed to have learned these different callings across the African continent.
a unique case
Collaborations like these between humans and animals occur on rare occasions, which is why the relationship between members of this tribe and birds is so special.
There is a similar case off the coast of Brazil, where dolphins help fishermen catch the mullet. However, in this case, the form of communication is not so clear. There were also cases where orcas were directing whalers to hunt these huge cetaceans, in exchange for the animal’s tongue.
Mutualism is something that appears in many animal species, but this case is unique due to the fluid communication that takes place between two very different species.
