If you have a bird-feeding site in your suburban or rural garden and live in a region where honeyguides occur, the pleasure you derive from your efforts can be greatly enhanced if you can secure a source of beeswax. With an uncanny ability to track down the presence of beeswax or honeycomb, a honeyguide will become a regular visitor to the garden, even if only an intermittent supply of this unusual food source is provided.
Not only are members of the honeyguide family (Indicatori-dae) typically considered to be the only African vertebrates capable of digesting wax derived from either honeycomb (honeyguides) or scale insects (honeybirds), they also have a few other unusual characteristics. All members are brood parasites and all are probably polygynous; hatchlings have hooked bills for killing the young of their hosts; and all members have zygodactylous feet. The Greater Honeyguide Indicator indicator is renowned for its remarkable cooperative relationship with human honey gatherers, honey badgers and baboons.
Being a hobbyist beekeeper gives me perhaps an above-average opportunity to witness the connection between these interesting birds and our all-important honey bees. Recent observations at the bee-feeding site in my East London forest-edge garden have shown me the feeding and social behaviour displayed by both immature and adult Greater and Lesser honeyguides. As the birds were not individually marked, I was unable to ascertain how many independent individuals of each species and age or sex class visited the feeding site, but my observations nonetheless suggested some interesting patterns.
This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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