Honey, honey: Cultural coevolution

One of the projects I've been working on is a study of the partnership between humans in Africa and a wild bird, the greater honeyguide, to locate bee colonies and their rich deposits of honey and wax. It's led to some nice publications, including the paper that UCLA Newsroom covered.

Cooperation between humans and wild animals is exceedingly rare, and the human-honeyguide partnership is one of these rare instances. We now have learned it involves communication using culturally varying signals as well as learning of those signals by the wild animal partner, something that has not been demonstrated before.

The honeyguides' assistance is really important to the Hadza and other honey-hunting communities. Among the Hadza, honey is the most preferred food in their diet. Men's rate of finding bee colonies increases fivefold when the birds are helping them. My research has documented that about 50% of the honey that Hadza acquire is done so with help from honeyguides; that comprises about 10% of their annual diet, and much more during the wet season. The Hadza also manipulate honeyguides by strategically being stingy or generous in the rewards they provide to the bird. This is a great example demonstrating the importance of social intelligence in successful hunting and gathering - not just in terms of how people interact with one another, but also how they interact with other species.

This research has also led to some really cool public outreach, in a way that blends science and art. Right now, the lead exhibit of the Natural History Museum in London is a show called "Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre." I'm pleased to say that it includes a video shot by me and nature filmmaker (and my uncle) Lee McEachern. This video was shot in Tanzania, and profiles the Hadza people-honeyguide partnership, and the exhibit discusses our research.

In addition, the National Geographic Society is developing an exhibit in New York right now that features audioscapes from different world regions and they are prominently featuring sounds I recorded of Hadza whistling for honeyguides and honeyguides chattering to honey hunters.

I find it quite amazing that this mutualistic relationship has evolved between people and wild birds. Most animals try to avoid hunter-gatherers like the Hadza - after all, as hunters, they make a living by killing animals, not being friendly with them. But this bird is one powerful exception to that general rule. We are just now starting to carefully document and understand the form and function of the signals that honey-hunters and honeyguides use to communicate with one another. This is a scientifically fascinating issue to study, and involves really exciting field research in Tanzania. There is nothing I'd rather be doing than traveling with my friends in the Hadza community, learning more about their lives and their knowledge of the living world.

And as I continue my research studying the Hadza-honeyguide partnership, I ask any UCLA students interested in helping to reach out! I am especially looking for students with training in ecology, evolutionary biology, anthropology or computer science.

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