Does the honeyguide bird benefit from the honey badger?

The honeyguide bird and the honey badger have a unique symbiotic relationship in the wilds of Africa. The honeyguide bird guides the honey badger to beehives, which the honey badger then raids for honey and bee larvae. This provides food for both animals, but does the relationship benefit both species equally?

What is the honeyguide bird?

The honeyguide bird, also known as indicator birds, are a family of near passerine birds found throughout continental Africa and parts of Asia. There are 17 known species of honeyguide birds, including the greater honeyguide, the scaly-throated honeyguide, and the lesser honeyguide.

Honeyguides are best known for their unique habit of guiding other animals to bee colonies. The birds do this by flying from tree to tree and making a chattering or “tya” sound to attract the attention of an animal. Once an animal takes interest, the honeyguide will fly from tree to tree, continuing its call and waiting for the animal to follow it. In this way, the honeyguide leads the animal, which may be a honey badger, ratel, human hunter, or honey bee species like Apis mellifera scutellata, to a bees’ nest which the bird cannot open on its own.

What is the honey badger?

The honey badger, also known as ratel, is a fierce mammal related to skunks and weasels. Honey badgers have a reputation for being one of the most fearless animals in Africa, attacking almost any animal when escape is impossible.

Honey badgers have very thick skin and long, sharp claws, which allows them to be able to raid bees’ nests. They have even been observed enduring hundreds of bee stings while raiding hives. Honey badgers are also intelligent and resourceful – there are reports of them using tools, working together, and even breaking into man-made structures in search of food.

How does the symbiotic relationship work?

The mutually beneficial relationship between the honeyguide bird and honey badger works as follows:

1. The honeyguide bird locates a wild bees’ nest, often in a hole in a tree.
2. The bird then searches out and makes a call to attract a honey badger or ratel.
3. If a honey badger is nearby, it will follow the honeyguide, recognizing the bird’s call.
4. The honeyguide leads the honey badger directly to the bees’ nest.
5. The honey badger uses its sharp claws and teeth to rip open the nest and feed on the larvae and honey inside.
6. The honey badger cannot access the nest without the help of the bird.
7. As the honey badger feasts, bees swarm out to attack it. But the honey badger’s tough hide protects it from most stings.
8. The honeyguide hangs around the outskirts and makes loud calls. This helps drive more bees out of the nest to attack the honey badger.
9. Once the honey badger has had its fill and moved on, the honeyguide flies in to eat what remains – including wax and larvae.

So in summary, the honeyguide bird guides the honey badger to a bees’ nest. The honey badger does all the dangerous work of breaking into the nest and fending off angry bees. This allows the honeyguide to safely eat the leftovers. So both animals benefit from the relationship.

Do honeyguides benefit more than honey badgers?

There has been some debate among researchers as to whether honeyguides benefit more from this symbiotic relationship than honey badgers do. Some key points around this debate:

• Honeyguides invest time and energy into seeking out and guiding honey badgers to bees’ nests. They make a loud, distinctive call to attract honey badgers. And they patiently lead the animals to a nest site. This takes significant time and effort compared to simply seeking food on their own.
• However, one analysis found that honeyguides only guide honey badgers to around 30% of the bees’ nests they locate. They feed at the rest of the sites alone. So honeyguides don’t seem wholly dependent on honey badgers.
• Honeyguides canfeed on larvae, wax, and honey from the nests. But honey badgers get first access to the calorie-rich honey and fat-rich larvae. So honey badgers seem to get the best spoils.
• But honeyguides are able to safely feed on leftover bees’ nest contents after the honey badger leaves. Honeyguides lack the tough skin and defenses of honey badgers. So they likely couldn’t raid nests themselves without high risk of bee stings.
• Honeyguides have been observed intentionally aggravating bees to attack the honey badger more. This implies the birds try to ensure the badgers do the dangerous work.

Based on these points, there are good arguments on both sides as to which species benefits more. Honeyguides likely get less nutrition per nest than honey badgers. But they get safe, easy access to nest contents they likely couldn’t acquire alone. Overall the relationship seems reasonably balanced, with clear benefits to both species.

How did the symbiotic relationship develop?

It’s not fully known how this remarkable cross-species partnership evolved. But researchers have proposed some likely theories:

• The behavior may have originated with honeyguides opportunistically feeding at bee nests raided by honey badgers.
• Honeyguides then developed specialized calls to try actively attracting honey badgers to nest sites.
• Meanwhile, honey badgers learned to recognize these calls as a cue for easy access to bee larvae.
• The mutually beneficial behavior was reinforced over time, becoming an engrained tradition passed on to offspring.

This type of mutualistic symbiosis, where two species develop interdependent ways of accessing food, is rare but not unknown in nature. Other examples include some species of ants milking aphids, or the clownfish and sea anemone partnership. In each case, the species evolve specialized behaviors and adaptations over time that benefit both parties.

How widespread is this symbiotic relationship in Africa?

The honeyguide-honey badger partnership has been observed across sub-Saharan Africa. However, it does not occur equally across the continent. Some key points:

• The relationship seems most common in woodland and savanna areas of East Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia.
• Honeyguides are found across central, west and coastal Africa as well. But associations with honey badgers are less commonly reported in drier desert and grassland regions.
• The partnership has been observed in South Africa. However, honey badgers seem to most often raid bees’ nests alone here.
• There are no reports of honeyguides guiding honey badgers in the tropical rainforests of west and central Africa. Nest sites and food sources likely differ here, making the relationship less useful.

So while honeyguide-honey badger partnerships occur over much of Africa, they seem most prevalent and reliable in woodland habitats of east Africa. Even here interactions may only occur in around 30% of honey badger raids on bees’ nests. But the behavior persists as it provides a clear benefit to both species.

Are there any risks associated with the symbiotic relationship?

The mutually beneficial partnership between honeyguides and honey badgers clearly provides food rewards to both species. However, there are some potential risks, including:

• Honeyguides likely invest time and energy into attracting honey badgers that could be spent on other foraging.
• An uncooperative honey badger may not sufficiently damage a nest for a honeyguide to access remains.
• Honey badgers have been known to be aggressive and even predate on birds when given the chance.
• Bees may attack a waiting honeyguide along with the honey badger.
• Competition from other species like wild bees or ants may reduce leftovers at raided nests.

However, the continued success of this partnership suggests rewards generally outweigh risks for both species. Honeyguides seem to be able to identify cooperative honey badgers through call-and-response communication. And honey badgers appear to recognize honeyguides as partners, not prey. This suggests a long history of mutual trust likely minimizes risks like wasted effort or predation.

How do humans interact with this symbiosis?

Humans have long been fascinated by the honeyguide-honey badger relationship. There are some traditional practices associated with it:

• The Boran people of Kenya are known to use honeyguides to find bees’ nests which they then harvest for honey. The honeyguide-human partnership parallels the bird’s relationship with honey badgers.
• Some African tribes, including the Bushmen, are said to consider the honeyguide sacred. They have traditional beliefs that harming a honeyguide will bring bad luck.
• Folklore in parts of Africa suggests that honeyguides gift honey to kind, generous people but deny it to the selfish and greedy.

Scientists have also extensively studied the remarkable honeyguide-honey badger relationship. Ongoing research aims to better understand how the symbiosis developed and exactly how the species benefit. There are also efforts to protect habitat and prevent practices like hunting honey badgers that could disrupt this unique partnership.

Conclusion

The symbiotic relationship between the greater honeyguide bird and the honey badger provides clear mutual benefits. Though the behavior likely originated opportunistically, it has evolved into true symbiosis where both species depend on the partnership for food. While honeyguides may invest more effort in maintaining the relationship, they gain safe access to nutritious bee larvae and honey. Honey badgers do the dangerous work of breaching nest defenses but get the calorie-rich reward of honey and fat-filled larvae. This remarkable partnership persists across much of Africa, especially in woodland habitats. Ongoing research aims to shed more light on how two such distinct species developed such an intimate mutualism.