Behavioural ecologist @Fitztitute in Cape Town. Mosaic of human-honeyguide mutualism in Africa. Culture, conservation & collaboration.
Cape Town, South Africa
Joined January 2018
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Jessica van der Wal retweeted
🚨 New podcast episode out now!
Tune in to hear Dr. Jessica van der Wal speak about how human communication used to cooperate with honeyguides varies regionally, much like human language does..
🔊 Soundcloud ➡️ buff.ly/ZiyHl1p
🔊 Spotify ➡️ buff.ly/fNUdYkf
In the Kingdom of Eswatini🇸🇿, young cattle-herders team up with honeyguide birds to find wild honey as a sweet snack. We studied how this recreational human-bird cooperation works, and why it’s still thriving. New paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/d…
ALT Co-author Gcina Dlamini harvesting honey with his nephew
Backstory: this paper's journey began in 2019 when I connected with Gcina Dlamini, a honey-hunter from Eswatini, through a YouTube comment. In 2021, I met Dr Celiwe Ngcamhala, whose father honey-hunted with honeyguides in Eswatini.
ALT Gcina Dlamini, SiSwati honey-hunter and co-author of the study
In 2022–23, we teamed up with Sanele Nhlabatsi who led the study, ran a radio call-out with 100+ respondents, joined a honey-hunt led by Gcina, and interviewed 83 honey-hunters & beekeepers. We dedicate this paper to Celiwe’s late father, whose stories we now know were true.
ALT The morning of our honey-hunt
🍯🤝Honeyguides & humans: a sweet deal! Our new paper quantifies how these birds boost honey-hunter income in Reserva Especial do Niassa, Moçambique— where 75% of honey harvests rely on them! A vital mutualism for livelihoods & culture in miombo woodlands: doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.202…
ALT greater honeyguide bird
ALT wild honey harvest in Reserva Especial do Niassa in northern Moçambique. Photo by Claire Spottiswoode
Jessica van der Wal retweeted
🚨 New 🚨 Ever wondered how researchers chose where they publish?
We found 3 groups:
1️⃣ Prefers society-owned journals, willing to pay more 2️⃣ Prefers #OA & broad scope, cost-sensitive 3️⃣ Values double-blind review & high impact, dislikes high fees
Link conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.c…
Jessica van der Wal retweeted
A mural showing the declining tradition of honey-hunting with honeyguides now adorns a school in Mto wa Mbu, northern Tanzania. Outreach initiative by Amana Kilawi, a founding member of the African Honey-hunting Research Network led by @jesvanderwal supported by @CultEvolFunding
Can anyone recommend ecology journals that might publish interview-based data (on human-wildlife interactions)?
Jessica van der Wal retweeted
[Thread] I will now explain our new study about people cooperating with honeyguide birds, using Lego and graphs (and Lego graphs). This study was a great team effort: @honeyguiding @honeyguide @jesvanderwal @jesslund01 + many not on Twitter.
Jessica van der Wal retweeted
Guides and cheats: producer–scrounger dynamics in the human–honeyguide mutualism ow.ly/t19y50Q5qhO #ProcB #OpenAccess
@jesvanderwal @honeyguide @CamZoology @Fitztitute @WCSMozambique
Image: Dominic L. Cram
Jessica van der Wal retweeted
NEW PAPER! Honeyguides lead people to bees' nests, but do the do the same with honey badgers? We looked at the evidence (incl years of our own observations) & asked 400 honey-hunters across Africa what they have seen. Here's an easy-to-read summary cam.ac.uk/stories/birds-and-…
Honey badgers don’t care! Or do they... and work together with honeyguide birds to steal from bees? For our collaborative paper out today in @JZoology, we looked into the evidence that honey badgers and honeyguides cooperate to access bees’ nests🍯zslpublications.onlinelibrar… (1/7)
ALT Honey badger eating wax comb
Notably, without the honey-hunter interviews, we would have drawn a different conclusion. Our study therefore also highlights that engaging with relevant communities and learning from their views and observations can enrich knowledge & accelerate research. Photo: Jes vd Wal (6/7)
ALT Honey-hunters harvesting honey in northern Mozambique.
This paper was a result of a great and fun collaboration between (mostly early career) researchers from nine African countries who study honeyguides, badgers, and/or honey-hunter cultures. You can find a Kiswahili translation of the abstract here: AfricanHoneyguides.com/abstr… (7/7)