"The Secret Language of African Birds: How to Find Honey with a Single Call"
The Greater Honeyguide, a wild African bird, has a unique cooperative relationship with human honey foragers. Researchers have discovered that the birds learn to respond to specific whistles and calls made by the local foragers in Tanzania and Mozambique. The birds are more likely to appear and lead the foragers to honey when they hear the familiar calls of their usual human partners. This human-animal communication benefits both parties, with the birds providing valuable knowledge about honey locations, and the foragers sharing their skills in accessing the honey. The birds' ability to respond to culturally-specific cues is remarkable, as they do not come from a group of birds known for vocal learning. The learning process for the birds is still unclear, but it is possible that younger birds observe and imitate the behavior of older birds.
