The Secret Fire-Starting Tactics of Australia’s Raptors

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Quick Take

• Bushfires are environmental disasters and highly damaging to all the wildlife.

• Raptors, including the kite species, are well-known fire foragers, feeding on animals fleeing the flames.

• The birds pick up smoldering sticks and drop them on brush and grass, starting new fires.

• Overall, intentional fire-spreading by raptors is strongly supported by multiple eyewitness accounts and Indigenous knowledge.

Wild bushfires in Australia are typically seen as environmental disasters that are highly damaging to all the wildlife in their paths. However, as is often the case with nature, the situation is more complex. What is a disaster for one animal can be an opportunity for another, at least in the short term. Fire has been a natural part of many landscapes for millions of years, and some animals have learned to take advantage of that. Australia’s raptors (bird of prey species) are typical examples and have been named ‘firehawks’. Here, we will examine the myths and realities of the relationship between raptors and fire.

Fires and Landscapes – The Bigger Picture

The period between July 2019 and March 2020 has been called Australia’s ‘Black Summer’. Following years of repeated droughts, one of the worst bushfires on record broke out. They ravaged the Australian landscape. In total, over 18 million hectares of land were burned, and an estimated 1.25 billion animals lost their lives. In all, 3 billion animals were affected. While this is the catastrophic image of bushfires in Australia, there is also a broader perspective to consider.

Australian Aboriginal people have understood and used fire as an ecosystem management tool for thousands of years. Throughout the northern Australian tropical savanna zone, both indigenous and non-indigenous people have used fire productively for safety, range management, and food production. As an example, they used fire to stimulate the growth of plants used for human food.

Furthermore, fires are set for fire management purposes. For example, early dry-season fires are set to reduce the fuel load so that huge fires do not break out later in the year. Additionally, so-called ‘back-burn’ fires are lit to stop out-of-control bushfires. Fires can be started by people (either accidentally or intentionally) or occur naturally, for example, by lightning.

Firehawks: Myths and Reality

Amid this complex situation are the animals that inhabit the fire-affected habitats. Of particular importance are the birds known as ‘firehawks’ to the local people. These are the black kite (Milvus migrans), the whistling kite (Haliastur sphenurus), and the brown falcon (Falco berigora). Aboriginal mythology describes firehawks diving into cooking fires or bushfires to retrieve flaming branches, which they then use to start new fires elsewhere. This narrative appears to have a basis in reality.

As fires spread, both invertebrates and vertebrates flee by the thousands, creating a tightly packed feast for opportunistic predators. Sadly, the semi-charred remains of animals overcome by the fire provide rich pickings for scavengers. Raptors, including kite species, are well-known fire foragers. They have been observed gathering in large numbers at active fire fronts. This has been reported in Africa, Papua New Guinea, the USA, and Panama, as well as in Australia. Firehawks have been seen transporting burning sticks away from active fires, but is this behavior intentional or accidental?

Picking Up Smoldering Sticks

Descriptions of raptor behavior near cooking fires or bushfires have been obtained from local people. The birds fly into the fires and pick up smoldering sticks in either their talons or their beaks. They carry them up to about half a mile away and drop them onto grass or brush. A single bird may do this, or several may join in. They may do this once or several times, but it does not always succeed.

If this behavior is intentional, why would the birds do it? Researchers have suggested that the raptors do this to spread fires to unburned locations. This could be to the other side of a river or across an artificial barrier created by firefighters. Their goal may be to flush out prey with the smoke and fire, allowing them to swoop down and catch the animals. However, it is also possible that this behavior is unintentional. The birds may accidentally pick up smoldering sticks while trying to grasp small prey. Then, realizing their mistake, they drop the sticks.

Researching Raptor Fire Starters

Researchers investigated this behavior by studying written accounts, conducting interviews, and making first-hand observations. Aboriginal accounts and traditions assert that this behavior is intentional, while those who have not witnessed it tend to dismiss it as accidental. There is no unequivocal video or photographic evidence, and no scientific papers have definitively concluded whether the behavior is intentional or accidental. This lack of evidence is understandable, given the dangers of conducting research at active fire fronts.

That said, fire managers recount experiences where fires have flared up in areas that had previously been completely controlled. The researchers were able to observe this behavior themselves. In one example, they saw a black kite grab a smoking stick in its talons and then drop it onto a road. Another kite dropped its stick on the other side of the road, where a fire then flared up.

Another participating firefighter witnessed a whistling kite dropping a smoking stick and starting a spot fire across the road from a grass fire that had been extinguished. He had to extinguish six additional fires, all started by kites. Overall, intentional fire-spreading by raptors is strongly supported by multiple eyewitness accounts and Indigenous knowledge, even though direct experimental proof is still lacking. Ultimately, further research is needed to investigate the evolutionary origins of avian fire-spreading behavior and to truly understand firehawk behavior.

The post The Secret Fire-Starting Tactics of Australia’s Raptors appeared first on A-Z Animals.