African Honeyguides

Research on a remarkable
human-animal relationship

Dr Jessica van der Wal gives a talk on honeyguide mutualism research at the African BirdFair

Sep 5, 2020

Jump to News
Jessica van der Wal African BirdFair talk

Dr Jessica van der Wal gave a talk on honeyguide-human mutualism as part of a session on research at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, at Birdlife South Africa’s Virtual African Birdfair. Dr Gabriel Jamie gave a talk on mimicry in the parasitic finches of Africa , representing our sister research project on coevolution between brood-parasitic birds and their hosts (more information at www.AfricanCuckoos.com). See also the amazing line-up of other talks at the Virtual African BirdFair – thank you BirdLife South Africa!

Help us by submitting a honeyguide sighting here

News

Dr David Lloyd-Jones graduates with his PhD

Sep 9, 2025

Dr David Lloyd-Jones graduated with his PhD from the University of Cape Town, entitled “Cooperation, ecology and behaviour in the honeyguide-human mutualism” – congratulations, David, on this wonderful outcome of many happy years of fieldwork in the Niassa Special Reserve together with our honey-hunter collaborators and friends, supported by the Mariri Environmental Centre.

read more

Tragic attacks in the Niassa Special Reserve, Mozambique

May 7, 2025

On 29 April 2025, armed insurgents attacked the Mariri Environmental Centre in Mozambique’s Niassa Special Reserve, resulting in the tragic loss of two anti-poaching scouts, Domingos Daude and Fernando Paolo Wirsone (please see statement from the Niassa Carnivore Project). This followed a prior tragic attack at Kambako Safari camp on 19 April. Mariri and the nearby village of Mbamba are at the heart of our work on human-honeyguide cooperation, made possible by the knowledge and partnership of the Mbamba honey-hunting community. We grieve alongside the people of Mariri, Mbamba, and the wider Niassa community, and stand in solidarity with the enduring spirit of conservation and unity.

Update, 19 June 2025: The insurgents have been expelled from Niassa and our friends and collaborators have been able to return to Mariri Environmental Centre and Mbamba village. Please see the Niassa Lion Project page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/niassalionproject.
We send strength and support to all at Mariri and Mbamba as Niassa recovers from this terrible time.
Please also see this National Geographic article for further context to the attacks.

read more

New paper on honeyguides guiding to snakes (and a mammal) rather than to bees

Apr 27, 2025

In a new study from the Honeyguide Research Project, we are excited to present evidence that honeyguides occasionally guide humans to non-bee animals. Our research – which builds on centuries of reports by a wide variety of human cultures across Africa – shows how the behaviour of honeyguides when guiding humans to wild bees’ nests, is spatially and acoustically similar to when honeyguides guide humans to other kinds of animal. In Niassa Special Reserve, where this research was conducted, we find this to be a rare behaviour (occurring on around 1% of honey-hunting interactions). We suggest that the most likely explanation for such behaviour is not as punishment for not previously rewarding the birds with beeswax, nor as a form of altruistic warning behaviour, but rather, due to cognitive mistakes in the birds’ spatial recall.

read more
Read More News