top of page

Fire-spreading hawks

  • Writer: Bruce Smith
    Bruce Smith
  • Dec 2, 2022
  • 1 min read

A phenomenon known and ceremonialized for thousands of years by Australia's Aboriginal people is receiving scientific interest. A paper in the Journal of Ethnobiology describes how certain species of kites and falcons collect and spread burning sticks, presumably as a means of foraging optimization. This behavior has implications for understanding evolution of tropical savannas and the origins of human fire use. Because it's sometimes observed to be cooperative behavior, it's a testament to avian intelligence. And just pretty cool!

Comments


Subscribe to Bruce's blog

Thanks for subscribing!

©Bruce L. Smith, 2022
bottom of page