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  • 2 days ago
Honey badgers and honeyguide birds have apparently formed a tag team to feed themselves. The only question is how do the two species communicate, something they are now trying to observe in the wild.

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00:00this for the uninitiated is a honey badger and this is what's known as a honey guide bird as
00:09their names might indicate they're known for their love of natural bee products now according to
00:14researchers these two creatures work together to get it in what can only be described as a
00:18remarkable example of interspecies teamwork the issue is that honey guide birds know where to
00:22find the sweet sweet honey but actually only want the waxy honeycomb and have trouble breaking into
00:27the hives to get it that's why they've teamed up with the more muscularly capable honey badgers
00:32leading them to a hive where the badgers may enjoy the honey leaving the comb behind for the birds
00:37so how are the birds communicating with the badgers a particular group of honey hunters
00:41in tanzania say they've seen the cooperation before explaining they've witnessed the birds
00:45approaching the badgers first the issue with capturing that interaction is that humans would
00:49have to be there and honey guide birds also use human honey hunters to get into beehives
00:54hence their nomenclature but the researchers say it's likely no coincidence that they're all in
00:58tanzania suggesting that this particular subset of badgers may have passed down the notion of
01:02following honey guide birds learning and developing a similar relationship with the honey guides that
01:07humans have also cultivated

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