Why Birds Are Conspiring with Honey Badgers to Steal Honey

The famously tough animal has no qualms about following a noisy bird when it leads to sweet honey, Tanzanian hunters say.

By Matt Hrodey
Jul 3, 2023 3:00 PM
Honey badger
A honey badger feeding on honeycomb in Mozambique. (Credit: Dominic Cram)

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Wild honeyguide birds and humans have hunted for honey together in Africa for centuries, if not longer. In some parts of the continent, the process starts when a hunter makes a loud, trilling “brr-hm” sound to attract the dull brown birds.

They hop from tree to tree and chatter eagerly as they lead the honey hunter to a beehive in a baobab or other tree. After the human has looted the honey, the honeyguide dines on the beeswax left behind.

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