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It’s no secret that birds can be pretty smart.
You’ve probably heard of birds using tools or solving puzzles … but in Australia, they
take things to the next level.
There, some birds are said to intentionally start fires — making them the only animals
besides humans known to do that!
Most animals don’t like being near fire. The standard instinct around flames is to
drop what you’re doing and run.
But some birds of prey do just the opposite. If they spot a wildfire, they’ll actually
fly towards it.
They’ve figured out that fire causes little critters to panic and flee, making them easy targets.
As long as the birds are careful not to get burned, a fire can mean an easy meal.
This incredible behavior is called fire foraging and it’s been seen in predatory birds around the world.
But in Australian tropical savannas, some birds seem to take this strategy a step further.
They’re known as firehawks because they’re said to fly into active fires, carry away
a burning stick in their beak or talons, and then drop it into dry brush to start a totally new fire!
There’s a lot we don’t know about this avian arson. It’s never been reliably captured
on photo or video, but the stories trace back generations.
Around the world, there are human cultures that have lived alongside native wildlife
for hundreds or thousands of years. And these cultures can be a valuable source of what’s
called indigenous ecological knowledge.
And a 2017 study set out to collect this local knowledge.
Most stories identify three species as the arsonists: black kites, whistling kites, and
brown falcons, though there may be other birds that do it, too.
And the team found that at least 12 different ethnic Aboriginal groups reported first-hand
knowledge of fire-spreading in these birds. They’re even in some of their religious ceremonies.
One account goes as far as to suggest that early Aboriginal people may have learned the
trick of fire-foraging by watching the birds!
The study also collected observations from non-Aboriginal people, including modern-day firefighters.
As you can imagine, birds that can start fires could be a real pain if you’re job is to
control blazes, so local firefighters are often on the lookout for the birds.
One firefighter reported an instance where he spent an afternoon putting out seven different
fires started by kites!
And another witnessed a group of birds start a fire that burned so out of control that
it damaged a local cattle station.
In total, the study found accounts of fire-spreading from West Australia, Queensland, and the Northern
Territory — a total area of thousands of square kilometers.
So it may not be video footage, but it’s pretty comprehensive ethno-ornithological
evidence — that is, cultural knowledge of birds.
But the behavior still hasn’t been scientifically observed and documented, so the researchers
aren’t done yet.
They plan to conduct more interviews, set up field experiments, and equip local rangers
with the tools to catch the birds in the act.
All that will hopefully reveal how often the birds start fires and how firefighters can
best plan around the behavior.
And, it may even help researchers figure out how they learned to do it in the first place!
Everything we currently know about firehawks comes from people paying attention to nature.
Their inquisitiveness allowed them to make remarkable observations of these incredible birds.
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