Among the amazing animals God created is one that has an understanding about how to use humans and other animals to get to its favorite meal. The animal we are going to talk about is a bird, the honeyguide of Africa. These birds have the amazing ability to get food by leading humans and other animals to bee hives. Then, when the hive is opened, the bird has supper. Let’s look at some of the amazing details of the honeyguide.
The honeyguide belongs to the family of birds called the indicatoridae, which was named for the bird’s ability to indicate where a bee hive can be found. Native tribesman know that if they listen to and follow these birds for miles into the bush, they will find a supply of rich honey.
The honeyguide can memorize where each beehive can be found over a huge area of the bush. When these birds need food, they will find a human to lead to the food. By giving loud, attention-demanding chattering and flitting nervously around people, the bird will signal the need for the human to follow. The bird will then fly a little ahead and call loudly; when the human catches up, the bird flies on. This process will continue maybe for many miles until the bird reaches where the hive is. Then, the bird will change its call and sit in one place near the hive. Once the tribesman has opened the hive and gotten his honey, the bird will move in and eat the grubs as well as the bees’ wax of the honeycomb. They have also been known to eat candle wax. The honeyguide will also try the same type of behavior with a mammal called the honey badger. There has been some speculation about whether the honey badger follows because it knows food will be found by following the bird, or whether the bird follows the badger when it finds a beehive.
The honeyguide has a very thick skin that may protect it from the stings of the angry bees after the hive has been raided. These birds also have a very unique breeding behavior that depends upon other birds, but preferring a bird called the bee-eater, to feed and raise the honeyguide’s young.
This behavior is called “brood parasites.” The mother honeyguide will find a nest of one of several species of other birds. She will then enter the nest and lay a single egg. The honeyguide may also “pip” the host nest egg(s). This is pecking a small hole in the shell that slows down or stops development of the host egg. If any of the host nest eggs develops and hatches, the baby honeyguide will peck its nest mates with an especially sharp, curved beak. This repeating pecking will eventually cause the death of the host mother’s chicks. The host mother will then raise the baby honeyguide, which will even produce calls that mimic the call of several bee-eater baby chicks. This appears to be a strong stimulus for the host mother to bring extra food for the baby, which then grows at a very rapid rate.
Indeed, God has created some amazing animals to share this planet we call earth, and the honeyguide is one of the best examples. It is very hard to imagine how this bird could learn that attracting humans or honey badgers would get it food if God did not create this behavior in the first bird. Yet, it appears that many people choose not to believe what has been created around them.
