Some honeyguides lead people to wild beehives
Indicatoridae holds sixteen Old World piciform species, most in Africa and two in Asia. One or two deliberately guide humans to bee colonies, then feast on larvae and wax left behind—a mutualism that boosted Hadza honey finds by hundreds of percent in northern Tanzania.
Honeyguides are also called indicator birds. Most look dull greenish-brown, though the Himalayan yellow-rumped honeyguide flashes bright yellow; African species show white outer tail feathers and Asian ones pale grey. Size spans Cassin's honeyguide at about 10 centimetres to the greater honeyguide near 19.5 centimetres, and by mass from the green-backed honeyguide near 10.2 grams to the lyre-tailed near 54.2 grams. They are among the few birds that regularly eat wax, plus waxmoth larvae, insects, spiders, and occasional fruit.
Guiding behaviour is best documented in the greater honeyguide; whether the scaly-throated honeyguide does the same remains disputed. Birds recognise human calls that recruit them. With Hadza partners in northern Tanzania, assistance raised colony-finding rates by about 560 percent and steered hunters to richer nests. Some Hadza reportedly hide or destroy honeycomb afterward to keep birds hungry. Whether honeyguides truly guide honey badgers is contested; 2023 interview work in Tanzania suggested the interaction may occur but be rare or hard to see. Birds also raid nests alone at cool dawn hours, relying on thick skin that still cannot guarantee survival against stings.
Known breeding biology covers eight Indicator and Prodotiscus species: all are brood parasites laying about five eggs over five to seven days in host nests. Hole-nesters such as barbets and woodpeckers are favoured; Prodotiscus uses cup nests of white-eyes and warblers. Nestlings may eject host chicks and wield needle-sharp bill hooks to puncture eggs or kill hatchlings. African honeyguide mothers incubate eggs internally an extra day so their young hatch first and kill bee-eater nestmates with those hooked bills.
Source: Honeyguide
