Some birds of prey have learned to control fire, a skill previously thought to be unique to humans. The birds appear to deliberately spread wildfires in order to flush out prey. The finding suggests that birds may have beaten us to the use of fire.
There are many anecdotes about Australian birds of prey using fire, according to ornithologist Bob Gosford at the in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Most come from Aboriginal rangers who manage natural fires in the , which straddles Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The three species mentioned are black kites (), whistling kites () and brown falcons ().
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The claim is that the birds pick up burning twigs from existing fires and drop them elsewhere to start new blazes. This would flush out prey hidden in the brush. In effect, the birds are using the burning twigs as tools. At least, that’s the idea.
In 2016, Gosford’s claims got worldwide press coverage, but to the idea of birds deliberately starting fires. Now Gosford and his colleagues have gathered 20 new eyewitness accounts of birds starting fires on purpose.
Eyewitnesses to arson
The most dramatic evidence comes from Dick Eussen, a photojournalist and former firefighter who is a co-author on the paper. He recounts fighting and controlling a blaze at the Ranger Uranium Mine near Kakadu, Northern Territory, in the 1980s, only to discover a new one on the other side of the road. As he tried to extinguish that fire, he noticed a whistling kite 20 metres away. The bird was carrying a smoking stick, which it dropped, creating another spot conflagration. In all, Eussen extinguished seven new blazes started by the kites.
Similarly, in September 2012, Eussen passed a roadside fire in Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. He spotted a black kite starting a fire on the other side of the road by dropping a flaming stick.
Co-author is a firefighter heading the in the Northern Territory. He saw kites unsuccessfully trying to spread fire in March 2017, and a successful attempt in September 2016. In 2001 to 2002, he recalls seeing hundreds of kites swirling round a fire in Howard Springs, Northern Territory. Some of the kites managed to get fires in grassland as far away as 50 metres.
“We believe the observations by Ferguson and Eussen provide cogent evidence this behaviour occurs, that it is intentional, and that it may happen more frequently than suspected,” says Gosford.
Avian firestarters
The researchers now plan to conduct experiments. From May, working with Aboriginal ranger groups who manage fires in the region, they will film wild birds’ behaviour around fires under controlled conditions.
However, the new accounts have already won over sceptics who previously doubted that birds purposely started new fires.
“I didn’t doubt that black kites spread fires, but I now think the new evidence is compelling that fire-spreading is deliberate, rather than accidental,” says of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales. He points out that there is evidence , and he has seen black kites do it. If they can do that, he says, “then they have the intelligence to spread fires too”.
, a former president of Birds Queensland, is also now convinced the behaviour is deliberate. “It establishes that many people, both indigenous and non-indigenous, have seen and described the behaviour,” he says. “This alone suggests it’s unlikely to be simply accidental.”
Burning questions
It is not clear how common fire-starting really is. “The reports tend to suggest that only a few individuals learn this behaviour, but we don’t have enough evidence to say anything conclusive about that,” says co-author of Pennsylvania State University.
Based on the reports, it seems the birds only start new fires if an existing one has reached a barrier and is therefore “in danger of going out”. An extinguished fire would not flush out any more prey, so the birds have an interest in keeping it going.
It may not just be Australian birds: the team is gathering evidence that birds spread fire in other parts of the world. “We’ve come across mentions from the Americas, Africa and South Asia, both of kites and caracaras,” says Bonta.
If those reports are confirmed, it would imply that the behaviour has arisen independently several times over. Somehow, the birds learned to carry dangerous material that could burn them, despite the risks.
More problematically, birds of prey may spread major fires that threaten human lives, even when seemingly brought under control. Firefighters may now need to take these aerial arsonists into account.
Perhaps most surprisingly, birds of prey might have beaten us to the control of fire. It is not clear when our ancestors first learned to tame flames: the oldest firm evidence for the controlled use of fire dates back just 400,000 years, but some researchers claim the behaviour began over a million years ago. No other great ape uses fire, implying the behaviour is unique to hominins like us.
Birds of prey have been around millions of years longer. “They may well have discovered it before they saw humans,” says at the University of Oxford, who studies bird intelligence. “It’s likely that many human and possibly raptor populations rediscovered [fire] independently, as a consequence of lightning, bushfires or other natural fires.”
Journal reference: Journal of Ethnobiology, DOI:
Birdbrain? Not moi
Wielding fire as a tool is just the latest clever trick birds have pulled out of the bag. Here are four more.
Egyptian vultures use twigs to steal wool shorn from sheep by farmers, employing the twigs like rakes to scoop it up. Then they line their nests with the wool.
Crows give humans gifts in return for food. Presents range from paper clips and glass to less welcome items like morsels of roadkill. The birds also bestow gifts on partners, and even remember what they prefer. Giving tokens to humans may be an extension of this behaviour.
These birds are also adept at using tools. In one experiment, a food treat was accessible only with a long stick, but the crows were given a short one. With its help, the crows retrieved a longer stick. Humans and chimpanzees are the only other animals shown to be capable of wielding such “metatools”.
Palm cockatoos turn twigs into drumsticks, banging out rhythms on tree branches to impress potential partners. They seem to be the only non-human species that can make a musical instrument and repeatedly perform the same patterns.
This article appeared in print under the headline “The birds that steal fire”
