Okay, but can a bird really cooperate with humans?
E23. Across sub-Saharan Africa, wild birds and people work together to find honey. No taming, no breeding, no domestication… just a partnership thousands of years in the making. Behavioral ecologist Dr. Jessica van der Wal, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, joins Scott to unpack what's actually happening when a honey hunter calls and a greater honeyguide answers.
In this episode you'll hear about:
What each side gets out of one of the only known mutualisms between humans and a wild animal, and why this bird in particular evolved to seek us out
The remarkable signal the honeyguide…
The skinny
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