Guide Bird
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
or Honey Guide, a bird related to the barbet and woodpecker. The toes are arranged in pairs for climbing. The head is large and the bill is heavy. There are a dozen species in the family. One inhabits India; another is found in Malacca; a third in Borneo. The rest are birds of South Africa. The Latin or systematic name is indicator, referring to the desire of these birds to point out the place where bees have stored honey. They are fond of bees' grubs, but can't get at them always. A honey guide will attract the attention of a traveler or hunter and flit on from tree to tree, leading the way to a hollow tree or crevice in a rock where a swarm of bees is at work. The guide sits patiently by for a share of the proceeds. Sometimes the swarm is difficult to locate after the guide has indicated the vicinity. In that case the guide is likely to lead off for a second swarm. The indicator is no judge of property. As like as not he will lead the honey hunter into someone's bee yard. He is charged also with practical joking. It is said that he will at times lead an eager bee hunter into the presence of a leopard, a rhinoceros, or a lion, and make off with a jeering laugh like that of a parrot. Guido (gwedo) Reni (1575-1642), an artist of Bologna. His greatest work is a madonna. His best known picture is Phoebus and Aurora. Lusty maidens stride hand in hand on rolling clouds along the side of Phoebus' car and leaping steeds. See Painting
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 note has the essentials right — the birds do lead people to bees' nests, and the genus is still called Indicator — but nearly everything around it has been filled in. The family Indicatoridae now holds about 17 species, all of them brood parasites: the newly hatched chick uses hooks on its bill to kill the host's young in the nest, a habit documented by Herbert Friedmann in the mid-20th century, and the adults are among the very few birds able to digest beeswax. The guiding itself was confirmed as a genuine two-way partnership in 2016, when Claire Spottiswoode showed that Yao honey-hunters in Mozambique can summon greater honeyguides with a specific 'brrr-hm' call, which more than tripled their success rate. The charge of practical joking — leading hunters to a leopard or lion, or to the honey badger of later legend — remains folklore with no evidence behind it.
Written for this edition, 2026.