Honeyguide

Species

Macken Murphy

Anthropology, Social Sciences, Species, Science, Animals, Nature

4.8 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2021

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The honeyguide is, perhaps, humanity's oldest friend. We share a symbiotic relationship that is among the most complicated examples of mutualism in nature—the only natural instance of human cooperation with a wild animal. Come learn about one of Macken's favorite creatures on this episode of Species.

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ne_SqZRXQZVcVEfIA5D69x-50n8OZuvS1HV1c5yRp-0/edit?usp=sharing

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Transcript

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0:00.0	A little brown bird flits between perches above your head. It's mid-morning on the African savannah. The sun beats down on your shoulders. You haven't eaten a thing yet today. The mere sight of this bird causes you to salivate. She calls to you and comes to perch at your eye level on a nearby bush only a few strides away.
0:23.0	You take a step towards her, and she launches herself into the air, flashing her white
0:28.1	tail feathers, calling to you once more. You whistle back at her, and she lands, perching this time
0:36.2	further ahead, looking back at you, expectantly.
0:40.5	You approach her again, and, when it's clear you're following her, she takes to the air with excitement,
0:47.7	again flashing those feathers, again calling to you, and again, landing, in plain sight, only a few dozen feet from where you stand.
0:57.6	For the rest of the morning, you repeat this dance. She lands in front of you, you approach her,
1:05.1	and she moves to a perch further up ahead. You whistle at one another all the while. This pad to do only comes to an end
1:14.3	after many miles. She purchase, unmoving, in a tree high above you, and she changes the tune of her
1:22.9	song to something softer and longer. You look around her and see the beehive.
1:31.9	She falls silent.
1:34.0	No more conversation needed.
1:36.6	You check your tools, light a stick on fire, and begin your ascent.
1:43.1	Upon reaching the hive, you smoke the bees into submission, and then break it apart,
1:49.7	getting your first taste of the sweet, sugary honey within.
1:55.2	Your partner flies down from her perch and sits on the ground underneath you, underneath the hive, and
2:02.3	stares at you with what you perceive to be a look of impatience. It's been a long day. You break
2:09.5	off a piece of the honeycomb and throw it to her. Thank you. A surreal and almost fairy tale-like experience, but one your ancestors may well have had.
2:23.4	And one many humans have access to, even today.
2:28.1	This is a story that our two species have retold together for millennia.
2:33.7	Today, we're going to talk about the only true
2:36.3	wild animal on earth with whom our species has a mutualistic relationship. The other member
	...

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