For centuries, a captivating tale has circulated among naturalists: the story of a remarkable partnership between the greater honeyguide bird and the honey badger. This narrative paints a picture of cross-species cooperation, where the honeyguide, with its craving for beeswax, leads the powerful honey badger to bees’ nests. The badger, in turn, tears open the nest, granting both animals access to the sweet rewards within. But is this charming story truly reflective of nature, or is it more fable than fact?
Dr. Jessica van der Wal from the University of Cape Town, a leading researcher in honeyguide behavior, explains the skepticism surrounding this classic example of animal teamwork. “Despite extensive research on honeyguides, during which we’ve been guided to countless bees’ nests by these birds, none of us have ever witnessed an interaction between a honeyguide and a badger leading to honey,” she states. While the honeyguide’s ability to guide humans to bees’ nests is well documented, evidence for similar cooperation with badgers has remained elusive, often relying on anecdotal and outdated reports. This prompted a team of researchers across nine African nations, in collaboration with the Universities of Cambridge and Cape Town, to embark on the first comprehensive investigation into this intriguing interspecies relationship.
Unraveling the Honeyguide-Badger Dynamic: A Survey of Local Knowledge
The research team ventured directly to the source of experiential knowledge: communities across Africa deeply familiar with honey hunting. Nearly 400 interviews were conducted within eleven communities, engaging with individuals who have generations of experience tracking down wild honey, often with the assistance of honeyguide birds.
The overwhelming consensus from the surveyed communities was one of doubt. A significant majority, approximately 80%, reported never having observed any cooperative behavior between honeyguide birds and honey badgers. However, within three communities located in Tanzania, a strikingly different perspective emerged. Here, a substantial number of individuals recounted firsthand experiences of honeyguides and honey badgers working in tandem to access honey and beeswax from bees’ nests. This was particularly pronounced among the Hadzabe honey-hunters, with 61% confirming they had witnessed such interactions.
Dr. Brian Wood from the University of California, Los Angeles, a co-author of the study, highlights the unique observational advantage of the Hadzabe. “Hadzabe hunter-gatherers, with their quiet movement through the environment while hunting with traditional methods, are uniquely positioned to observe subtle wildlife interactions, including those between badgers and honeyguides, without causing disturbance. The fact that over half of these hunters have witnessed these events, even if infrequently, is a significant finding.” The findings were published in the Journal of Zoology.
Deconstructing the Cooperation: Plausibility and Puzzles
To critically assess the reported cooperation, the researchers meticulously broke down the sequence of events required for successful honeyguide-badger collaboration. Certain steps, such as a honeyguide spotting and approaching a badger, appear entirely plausible. However, other crucial elements remain less clear, particularly the idea of the honeyguide vocally signaling to the badger and the badger subsequently following the bird to a bees’ nest.
Honey badgers are known for their less-than-acute hearing and eyesight, raising questions about their ability to effectively follow the subtle cues of a chattering honeyguide bird over distance. The study suggests that if badger-honeyguide cooperation exists, it might be a localized phenomenon, potentially specific to certain Tanzanian honey badger populations. These skills, if developed, could be passed down through generations within these badger communities. Alternatively, the researchers acknowledge the possibility that such interactions are more widespread across Africa but simply remain largely unobserved due to the challenges of direct observation.
Dr. Dominic Cram from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, a senior author of the study, points out the inherent difficulty in observing these interactions definitively. “The presence of humans complicates observations significantly. It becomes challenging to discern whether a honeyguide bird is communicating with a human observer or a badger when both are present.”
Nevertheless, the consistent reports from multiple communities within Tanzania cannot be easily dismissed. “We must take these accounts seriously,” Dr. Cram emphasizes. “The fact that three separate communities in Tanzania independently report observing honeyguide-badger interactions strongly suggests that this phenomenon, while perhaps not universal, is indeed a reality in specific locations.” The researchers underscore the vital role of incorporating local ecological knowledge into scientific inquiry, advocating for greater engagement with communities to enrich and expedite research efforts.
An Evolutionary Partnership Shift? From Badger to Human
The greater honeyguide bird (Indicator indicator) has a long-standing relationship with humans across numerous African countries. For generations, communities have relied on these birds to locate bees’ nests, a valuable source of wild honey, which can contribute up to 20% of calorie intake. The beeswax, often discarded by honey hunters, provides a crucial food source for the honeyguide.
Humans have honed their ability to interpret honeyguide calls and behaviors, engaging in a form of interspecies communication to locate bees’ nests. Dr. Claire Spottiswoode from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, a joint senior author, describes this process as “a kind of conversation,” with honeyguides calling to humans and humans responding in turn as they navigate the landscape toward the bees’ nest.
Humans, with our mastery of fire and tools, represent highly efficient partners for honeyguides. We can clear vegetation, utilize smoke to subdue bees, and effectively extract honey from nests. Honey badgers, while powerful, may provoke more aggressive bee responses, and bees have been known to fatally sting honeyguide birds.
Considering the evolutionary timeline, honeyguide birds predate modern humans with our advanced tool use. This has led to speculation about the original evolutionary context of honeyguide behavior. “It’s been suggested that honeyguide guiding behavior might have initially evolved in partnership with honey badgers, with the birds later adapting to cooperate with humans as we emerged as even more effective partners in accessing bees’ nests,” Dr. Spottiswoode proposes. “This is a compelling hypothesis, though rigorously testing it presents significant challenges.”
Further Reading: J. E. M. van der Wal et al, Do honey badgers and greater honeyguide birds cooperate to access bees’ nests? Ecological evidence and honey‐hunter accounts, Journal of Zoology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13093
