Study
Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism
Spottiswoode, Claire N.; Begg, Keith S.; Begg, Colleen M.
Science, 2016
The specialised call that Yao honey-gatherers use to recruit honeyguides was played back along transects, alongside control sounds — including other human vocalisations and the calls of another bird — matched for the situation. Whether a honeyguide arrived, stayed and guided the party to a nest was recorded for each.
- Studied in
- Indicator indicator
- Sample size
- playback trials along transects in honeyguide habitat
The specialised call more than doubled the probability of being guided compared with control sounds, and increased the probability of the trip ending at a bees’ nest.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The signalling is reciprocal: humans signal to recruit birds, birds signal to guide humans, and the birds have learned the meaning of a specific human call.
How NatureHQ reads it
The design is what makes this land. Playing back other human sounds separates a response to the specific call from a response to people being present at all — which is the alternative explanation that would otherwise stand. It also makes this one of very few documented cases of a wild animal responding to a human signal to mutual benefit, learned rather than trained.
- One human community and one region; the calls used differ between honey-gathering cultures.
- Establishes that the birds respond to the call, not how they learn it.
Playing a human call to a wild bird
Honey-gatherers use a particular call to summon honeyguides. Do the birds respond to that call, or simply to people being in the bush?
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Greater honeyguide
A wild bird leads human honey-gatherers to bees’ nests, and the guiding measurably works: guided searches find nests far faster than unguided ones, and the bird’s behaviour tracks where the nest is.
Greater honeyguide
Honey-gatherers use a specialised call to recruit the birds — and playing it back more than doubled the chance of being guided, against other human sounds. The signalling runs both ways.
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of SciencePublished in Science or Science Advances (AAAS).
doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4885
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.