Australian raptors set fires deliberately to flush out prey When humankind first arrived on the dry

Australian raptors set fires deliberately to flush out preyWhen humankind first arrived on the dry Red Continent they used burning as a tool to reshape the continent to suit their own needs, both for hunting and in order to manage the land so that it would produce more of the kinds of plant that they could eat (with harsh effects for the local ecosystems including a mass extinction of megafauna). Their lore also mentioned birds doing the same (widely known to the people and depicted in some of their ceremonies such as the Lorrkon and Yabuduruwa ceremonies from the Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory), whether learned by imitation of humans or because they figured it out for themselves (they are after all very clever, see my review of the Genius of Birds at http://bit.ly/2nryy0u).Now these tales have been proved true, with at least 3 species observed picking up burning brands and using them to spread a fire to other nearby areas in order to find their dinner. This is the first recorded instance of animals other than man using fire as a tool, though some families of birds such as the Corvids (alongside apes) are generally consummate tool users and good at sneaking into for example snowmobile boots to steal food. Two kinds of kite and one of falcon have been seen picking up burning brands and taking them to fresh pastures in order to scare more prey into the open. They are already known to be opportunistic, hanging around in large gaggles around bushfires to pick out any creature (lizards, small mammals) fortunate enough to escape, right into their hungry talons. Maybe those individuals setting their own blazes are getting ahead of their gaggle of companions at the fire front by going to create their own where the competition for any escaping critters will be less intense.Both solo and group attempts to set fires have been recorded, most of them successful, with the brands being ferried in talons or beaks and maybe reminiscent of dinosaurian pack hunting behaviour. The behaviour seems widespread, with over 20 confirmed reports covering the whole span of the continent’s northern half, down the tropic s of east and west coasts, clustering in the savannas of the central north.Sadly one reason such behaviour hasn’t been proved or accepted until now is racism, masquerading as the reluctance to give credence to reports shared by Aboriginals and only respecting the word of properly trained (and usually white) scientists or ornithologists, though the information has been available if people wished to hear since we first invaded and settled the continent, wiping out most of the autochthonous population in the process. The moral of the tale is never discount the information given by people who live in a place and know it intimately, unless you are really sure your knowledge is as good as theirs, which would involve also being a local by definition. The search was sparked by a passage in the autobiography of an Aboriginal doctor and activist, written in 1964 and the research has been an interesting interdiscplinary exercise between ethnology/anthropology and ornithology. .We also have further proof of the abilities and intelligence of our dinosaurian feathered cousins when it comes to finding innovative foraging techniques (see the book review above). It will be interesting to see if the trick spreads beyond its current geographical and species range by learning, as some other styles of avian tool construction and song patterns have in the past. This knowledge is also important for bushfire control, since birds can spread them in unexpected directions unrelated to the prevailing winds and take firefighters by surprise or from behind, potentially fatally. The team’s next step involves a plan to follow rangers setting control fires in order to see if they can film the behaviour in action and deepen our current and limited knowledge.LozImage credit, Black kites swooping around a fire that they may well have started: Bob Gosfordhttp://bit.ly/2Dh7pnLhttp://bit.ly/2D3uQEhOriginal paper, paywall access: http://bit.ly/2noJqMC -- source link

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