Editing Honeyguide

{{Short description|Family of near passerine birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = IndicatorProdotiscusKeulemans.jpg
| image_caption = [[Greater honeyguide]] and<br>[[brown-backed honeybird]]
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Indicatoridae
| authority = [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1837
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = {{ubl|
''[[Indicator (genus)|Indicator]]''|
''[[Melichneutes]]''|
''[[Melignomon]]''|
''[[Prodotiscus]]''}}
}}

'''Honeyguides''' ([[family (biology)|family]] '''Indicatoridae''') are a family of birds in the order [[Piciformes]]. They are also known as '''indicator birds''', or '''honey birds''', although the latter term is also used more narrowly to refer to species of the genus ''[[Prodotiscus]]''. They have an [[Old World]] tropical distribution, with the greatest number of species in [[Africa]] and two in [[Asia]]. These birds are best known for their interaction with humans. Honeyguides are noted and named for one or two species that will deliberately lead humans (but, contrary to popular claims, most likely not [[honey badger]]s<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van der Wal |display-authors=et al. |first=J. E. M. |date=2023 |title=Do honey badgers and greater honeyguide birds cooperate to access bees’ nests? Ecological evidence and honey-hunter accounts |url=https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/30809086-febc-475c-aad2-6db6184213ab/content |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=1 |issue=a |via=Zoological Society of London}}</ref>) directly to bee colonies, so that they can feast on the grubs and [[beeswax]] that are left behind.

==Taxonomy==
The Indicatoridae were noted for their barbet-like structure and brood-parasitic behavior and morphologically considered unique among the non-passerines in having nine primaries.<ref>{{cite book |author=Austin, Oliver Luther |title=Birds of the world : a survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families |publisher=Hamlyn |year=1962 |page=186}}</ref> The [[Phylogenetics|phylogenetic]] relationship between the honeyguides and the eight other families that make up the order Piciformes is shown in the cladogram below.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Kuhl | first1=H. | last2=Frankl-Vilches | first2=C. | last3=Bakker | first3=A. | last4=Mayr | first4=G. | last5=Nikolaus | first5=G. | last6=Boerno | first6=S.T. | last7=Klages | first7=S. | last8=Timmermann | first8=B. | last9=Gahr | first9=M. | date=2021 | title=An unbiased molecular approach using 3′-UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life | journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution | volume=38 | issue=1 | pages=108-127 | doi=10.1093/molbev/msaa191 | doi-access=free | hdl=21.11116/0000-0007-B72A-C | hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Stiller | first1=J. | display-authors=etal | year=2024 | title=Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes | journal=Nature | volume=629 | issue= | pages=851-860 | doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07323-1 | doi-access=free | pmc=11111414 }}</ref> The number of species in each family is taken from the list maintained by [[Frank Gill (ornithologist)|Frank Gill]], [[Pamela C. Rasmussen]] and David Donsker on behalf of the [[International Ornithological Committee]] (IOC).<ref>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 June 2024 }}</ref>
{{Clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%
|label1=[[Piciformes]]
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1=[[Galbulidae]] – jacamars (18 species)
      |2=[[Bucconidae]] – puffbirds (38 species)
       }}
   |2={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |1='''Indicatoridae''' – honeyguides (16 species)
         |2=[[Picidae]] – woodpeckers (240 species)
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Megalaimidae]] – Asian barbets (35 species)
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Lybiidae]] – African barbets (42 species)
            |2={{clade
               |1=[[Capitonidae]] – New World barbets (15 species)
               |2={{clade
                  |1=[[Semnornithidae]] – toucan barbets (2 species)
                  |2=[[Ramphastidae]] – toucans (43 species)
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}

== Description ==
[[File:Wahlberg's Honeyguide (Prodotiscus regulus) - Juvenile fed by host parent Rock-loving Cisticola.jpg|thumb|left|[[Brown-backed honeybird]] juvenile fed by host parent, a [[rock-loving cisticola]]]]

Most honeyguides are dull-colored, though some have bright yellow coloring in the plumage. All have light outer tail feathers, which are white in all the African species. The smallest species by body mass appears to be the [[green-backed honeyguide]], at an average of {{convert|10.2|g|oz|abbr=on}}, and by length appears to be the [[Cassin's honeyguide]], at an average of {{convert|10|cm|in|abbr=on}}, while the largest species by weight is the [[lyre-tailed honeyguide]], at {{convert|54.2|g|oz|abbr=on}}, and by length, is the [[greater honeyguide]], at {{convert|19.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=":0">Short, L.L. and J. F. M. Horne (2020). ''Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.</ref><ref>Short, L.L., J. F. M. Horne, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). ''Cassin's Honeyguide (Prodotiscus insignis)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |edition=2nd |editor-first=John B. Jr. |editor-last=Dunning |publisher=CRC Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4200-6444-5}}</ref>

They are among the few birds that feed regularly on [[wax]]&mdash;[[beeswax]] in most species, and presumably the waxy secretions of [[scale insect]]s in the genus ''[[Prodotiscus]]'' and to a lesser extent in ''[[Melignomon]]'' and the smaller species of ''[[Indicator (genus)|Indicator]]''. They also feed on [[waxworm]]s which are the larvae of the waxmoth ''Galleria mellonella'', on [[bee]] colonies, and on flying and crawling insects, [[spider]]s, and occasional fruits. Many species join [[mixed-species feeding flock]]s.

==Behavior==
===Guiding===

Honeyguides are named for a remarkable habit seen in one or two species: guiding humans to [[bee hive|bee colonies]]. Once the hive is open and the honey is taken, the bird feeds on larvae and wax. This behavior has been studied in the [[greater honeyguide]]; some authorities (following Friedmann, 1955) state that it also occurs in the [[scaly-throated honeyguide]], while others disagree.<ref name=":0" /> Wild honeyguides understand various types of human calls that attract them to engage in the foraging mutualism.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Claire N. |last1=Spottiswoode |author1-link= Claire Spottiswoode |first2=Keith S. |last2=Begg |first3=Colleen M. |last3=Begg |title=Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |date=July 22, 2016 |doi=10.1126/science.aaf4885 |volume=353 |issue=6297 |pages=387–389 |pmid=27463674|bibcode=2016Sci...353..387S |s2cid=206648494 |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/256963 }}</ref> In northern [[Tanzania]], honeyguides partner with [[Hadza people|Hadza]] hunter-gatherers, and the bird assistance has been shown to increase honey-hunters' rates of finding bee colonies by 560%, and led men to significantly higher yielding nests than those found without honeyguides.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Wood|first1=Brian M.|last2=Pontzer|first2=Herman|last3=Raichlen|first3=David A.|last4=Marlowe|first4=Frank W.|date=2014-11-01|title=Mutualism and manipulation in Hadza–honeyguide interactions|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513814000877|journal=Evolution and Human Behavior|language=en|volume=35|issue=6|pages=540–546|doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.07.007|issn=1090-5138|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Contrary to most depictions of the human-honeyguide relationship, the Hadza did not actively repay honeyguides, but instead, hid, buried, and burned honeycomb, with the intent of keeping the bird hungry and thus more likely to guide again.<ref name=":1" /> Some experts believe that honeyguide co-evolution with humans goes back to the stone-tool making human ancestor ''[[Homo erectus]]'', about 1.9{{nbsp}}million years ago.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wrangham |first1=Richard |title=Honey and fire in human evolution |date=2011 |publisher=Oxbow Books |pages=149–167}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Despite some assumptions, no evidence indicates that honeyguides guide the [[honey badger]]; though videos about this exist, there have been accusations that they were staged.<ref name=Dean_ConsBiol>{{cite journal|last=Dean|first=W. R. J.|author2=Siegfried, W. Roy |author3=MacDonald, I. A. W. |title=The Fallacy, Fact, and Fate of Guiding Behavior in the Greater Honeyguide|journal=Conservation Biology|date=1 March 1990|volume=4|issue=1|pages=99–101|doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.1990.tb00272.x|bibcode=1990ConBi...4...99D }}</ref><ref name="DiscoverBlog">{{cite web |last=Yong |first=Ed |date=September 19, 2011 |title=Lies, damned lies, and honey badgers |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/lies-damned-lies-and-honey-badgers |access-date=July 8, 2024 |publisher=Kalmbach}}</ref> 

Sometimes, honeyguides lead humans to animals that are not bees, such as snakes. The reason for this behavior is not clear.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lloyd-Jones |first=David J. |last2=Muamedi |first2=Musaji |last3=Spottiswoode |first3=Claire N. |date=2025 |title=To Bees or Not to Bees: Greater Honeyguides Sometimes Guide Humans to Animals Other Than Bees, but Likely Not as Punishment |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71136 |journal=Ecology and Evolution |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=e71136 |doi=10.1002/ece3.71136 |issn=2045-7758 |pmc=12037988 |pmid=40303557}}</ref>

Although most members of the family are not known to recruit "followers" in their quest for wax, they are also referred to as "honeyguides" by linguistic extrapolation.

===Breeding===

The breeding behavior of eight species in ''Indicator'' and ''Prodotiscus'' is known. They are all [[brood parasite]]s that lay one [[Bird egg|egg]] in a nest of another species, laying eggs in series of about five during a period of 5–7 days. Most favor hole-nesting species, often the related [[Lybiidae|barbets]] and [[woodpecker]]s, but ''Prodotiscus'' parasitizes [[Cup nest#Cup|cup-nest]]ers such as [[white-eye]]s and [[Old World warbler|warbler]]s. Honeyguide nestlings have been known to physically eject their hosts' chicks from the nests and they have needle-sharp hooks on their [[beak]]s with which they puncture the hosts' eggs or kill the nestlings.<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor-last=Forshaw |editor-first=Joseph |last=Short |first=Lester L. |year=1991 |title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds |publisher=Merehurst Press |location=London |page=155 |isbn=978-1-85391-186-6}}</ref>

African honeyguide birds are known to lay their eggs in underground nests of other bee-eating bird species. The honeyguide chicks kill the hatchlings of the host using their needle-sharp beaks just after hatching, much as [[cuckoo]] hatchlings do. The honeyguide mother ensures her chick hatches first by internally incubating the egg for an extra day before laying it, so that it has a head start in development compared to the hosts' offspring.<ref>{{cite news |last=Davies |first=Ella |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14802180 |title=Underground chick-killers filmed |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] Nature |date=7 September 2011 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of honeyguides]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book | author = Friedmann, Herbert | title = The Honeyguides | publisher = U.S. National Museum (Bulletin 208) | year = 1955 | hdl = 10088/10101 }}
* {{cite book | author = Short, Lester, and [[Jennifer F. M. Horne|Jennifer Horne]] | title = Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-19-854666-5}}

==External links==
*{{YouTube|JTXKeBx0I_8|Lesser Honeyguide (Indicator minor)}}
*[https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/humans-and-birds-cooperate-to-share-beehive-bounty/ Human and Birds Cooperate to Share Beehive Bounty] on [[Scientific American]]

{{Piciformes}}
{{Brood parasite}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q214137}}

[[Category:Brood parasites]]
[[Category:Honeyguides]]
[[Category:Symbiosis]]