Figure 17.5 The greater honeyguide. When the greater honeyguide leads humans or other honey-consuming mammals to a beehive, the bird benefits by consuming the discarded honeycombs that contain beeswax and bee larvae. Humans have learned that as the greater honeyguide gets close to a beehive, (a) the bird flies shorter distances between stops and (b) at each stop it perches lower on trees. Error bars are standard deviations.

Data from H. A. Isack and H.-U. Reyer, Honeyguides and honey gatherers: Interspecific communication in a symbiotic relationship, Science 243 (1989): 1343–1246.