African Honeyguides

Research on a remarkable
human-animal relationship

Dr Susan Miller

email:

Susan Miller

Biography

I am broadly interested in the application of science to conservation issues with a special interest in genetics. My doctoral research investigated the conservation challenges of managing lions on small reserves in South Africa, with a strong genetic component. I followed this with a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of Pretoria studying the genetics of colour variants in the game industry before joining the FitzPatrick Institute at the University of Cape Town as a postdoctoral fellow in 2017 where I started applying my genetic knowledge to avian systems.

From January 2021 until March 2023 I took on the part-time role as Manager of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Fitz while continuing to pursue research projects on Lesser Sheathbill genetics, avian malaria in Cape Sugarbirds and Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Australian Dingo population genetics and Lion metapopulation management.

In June 2023 I joined the African Honeyguide team to provide logistical, administration support as well as molecular genetics support for the honeybee component of the project.

Selected research outputs

(Please see Google Scholar for a full publication list)

Selier, J., Miller, S.M., Coverdale, B., Ferreira, S., Kruger, J., Parker, D.M. 2024. WIld lions in small, fenced reserves in South Africa conform to a meta-population. Ecological Solutions and Evidence 5: e12341.
Miller, S.M., Behrendorff, L., Allen, B.L., Andrew, R., Ballard, G., Ballard, J.W.O., Cairns, K.M., Conroy, G.C., Fleming, P.J.S., Grueber, C.E., Oakey, J., Smith, D.A., Stephens, D., Wade, C., Bishop, J.M. 2024. Isolation, small population size, and management influence inbreeding and reduced genetic variation in K’gari dingoes. Conservation Genetics 25: 955-971
Miller, S.M., Kotze, A., Harper, C.K., Bishop, J.M., Williams, V.L., Rossouw, C., Schoeman, J., de Bruyn, M., Dalton, D.L., Selier, S.A.J. 2023. Genetic diversity and origin of captive lion (Panthera leo) in South Africa: an assessment and comparison to wild populations. Conservation Genetics 24: 721-737.
Ryan, P.G., Ward, V.L., Miller, S.M. 2023 First record of a common diving petrel Pelecanoides urinatrix from continental Africa, and a summary of diving petrel distribution in the Southern Ocean. Marine Ornithology 50: 211-214.
Becker, M.S., Almeida, J., Begg, C., Bertola, L., …, Miller, S.M., … Hunter, L. 2022. Guidelines for evaluating the conservation value of African lion (Panthera leo) translocations. Frontiers in Conservation Science 3: 963961.
Bertola, L.D., Miller, S.M., Williams, V.L., Coals, P., Dures, S.G. Henschel, P., Chege, M., Sogbohossou, E.A., Ndiaye, A., Kiki, M., Gaylard, A., Iknada, D.K., Becker, M.S, Lindsey, P. 2022. Genetic guidelines for translocations: maintaining intra-specific diversity in the lion (Panthera leo). Evolutionary Applications 15: 22-39.
Miller, S.M., Barnes, K.N., Bloomer, P., Ryan, P.G. 2021. Phylogenetic and morphometric variation of the Spike-heeled Lark Chersomanes albofasciata complex. Ostrich 92: 94-104.

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News

New study shows that honey-hunter calls vary regionally like dialects

Jan 22, 2026

We have published a new study in People and Nature showing that people in northern Mozambique use regionally distinct “dialects” when communicating with honeyguides. Led by Jessica van der Wal, the paper shows that human–honeyguide communication varies across landscapes in ways that mirror regional variation in human languages. Despite these differences in calls, cooperation between people and honeyguides remains successful and important for human livelihoods across the Niassa Special Reserve, suggesting that both species adjust to one another across their shared landscape.

New paper on honey-hunting with honeyguides in western Africa

Dec 4, 2025

We are pleased to share our new paper on honey-hunting with honeyguides, in western Africa this time. Led by Wiro-Bless Kamboe as part of his MSc project, and co-authored with Claire Spottiswoode and Timothy Khan Aikins, with Jessica van der Wal as senior author, the study documents honey-hunting practices in northern Ghana and explores the involvement of greater honeyguides. We found that while mutualism persists, it occurs at lower levels than those documented in eastern and southern Africa. Honey-hunters in Ghana often visit known bees’ nests without honeyguides’ help, and discarded beeswax continues to supplement the birds’ diet. We found no clear evidence that socio-economic changes, such as increased access to motorised transport, have disrupted this relationship.

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.