Two Australian birds, black kites and brown falcons, are believed to start wildfires on purpose to drive small animals out of hiding in thick brush and tall grasses, according to preliminary evidence from a cultural geographer, reports the Tech Times.
It has always been believed that fires are started by lightning or by humans. The very idea of a bird using fire as a tool has never been considered, at least until recently. Mark Bonta is a cultural geographer at Penn State University. He is working with Australian lawyer and bird lover, Bob Gosford.
Gosford has lived in Australia’s Northern Territory for 30 years. According to the Washington Post, he works with Australia’s aboriginal people, helping them to negotiate land deals with cattle farmers and the like. Gosford says it’s standard knowledge among the aboriginal people that birds do pick up burning twigs and carry them off to drop the fire stick in another location to start a fire to burn out their prey.
So far, Bonta, with Gosford’s help, has collected 15 accounts of Australian birds picking up pieces of burning brush and then dropping them off in a new spot. The findings come from Australian firefighters, aboriginal people and literature. “We’re not going to be satisfied until we can get this on video,” Bonta said.
There is even mythical evidence that is very hard to dismiss. It is a sacred aboriginal ceremony, the Yabadurrwa, in which a person acting as a bird transports a flaming branch.
While the evidence is compelling, the researchers want to crowdsource their work, getting “citizen scientists” around the world to monitor birds’ behavior near fires and have their cameras ready. The team is expecting further research and evidence to turn what we know about the accepted theory that only lightning and humans can start a fire, on its head.
Bonta told Newsweek that he thinks humans may have learned about fire from watching the birds, but he says that theory may be untestable. “The birds aren’t starting fires from scratch, but it’s the next best thing,” Bonta said. “Fire is supposedly so uniquely human.”
