SCIENCE

The indigenous peoples of northern Australia have long told tales about raptors intentionally starting fires in order to lure their prey into the open. Now, a scientific study has documented these “firehawks.” (International Business Times)

It’s the Year of the Bird, and that apparently includes fire-starting raptors.

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit.

Discussion Ideas

• A terrific new study documents legendary “firehawks” and other raptors. What are raptors?
  • Raptors, or birds of prey, are carnivorous birds. Raptors may prey on small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and other birds. Raptors include hawks, eagles, owls, and falcons.
  • The raptor species studied in the new research were black kites, whistling kites, and brown falcons. All these raptors are indigenous to the savannas of Australia’s vast Northern Territory, as well as the states of Western Australia and Queensland. (Find these regions on our 1-Page Map here.)

 

• The new study immediately notes its debt to “Indigenous Ecological Knowledge.” What is Indigenous Ecological Knowledge?
  • Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) is just what it sounds like. IEK describes resource cultivation and conservation methods practiced by Aboriginal Australians.
    • IEK includes “[t]raditional fire management practices [that] stimulate new growth for preferred animal species and increase the abundance of favoured bush medicine and bush tucker plants. These practices are bound up with Aboriginal culture and spirituality and offer critical insights increasingly appreciated to be invaluable to the way we manage the environment now. … In an effort to preserve some of this environmental knowledge the [Australian Central Land Council] has given priority to facilitating and documenting these practices and insights so that they can continue to be available to future generations.”

 

• How did Indigenous Ecological Knowledge help inform the “firehawk” study? Take a look at this blog post for some help.
  • direct observation. Aboriginal Australians from the Northern Territory have long described unique raptor behavior: “I have seen a hawk pick up a smouldering stick in its claws and drop it in a fresh patch of dry grass half a mile away, then wait with its mates for the mad exodus of scorched and frightened rodents and reptiles. When that area was burnt out the process was repeated elsewhere.”
  • traditional knowledge. In the Dreamtime mythology of Aboriginal Australians, the black kite “stole fire sticks from the Dingo, so that he could cook the Ckeeky yam. Kerrk [the black kite] is still attracted to fires and occasionally he can be seen carrying burning sticks from an existing fire to start more fires further away.”

 

• How does the new study help document the “firehawk” behavior?
  • According to the International Business Times, “observers reported that the birds – working alone and jointly – help to spread naturally occurring wildfires which are commonplace in the arid landscape. They do this by picking up burning material and dropping it onto virgin patches of grassland. According to the eyewitness accounts, the birds then wait nearby until they can see small animals trying to escape the flames, at which point they swoop in to make their kill.”

 

• How might this behavior help inform firefighting strategy in Northern Australia?
  • More widespread knowledge of this behavior might help explain how bush fires spread from one area to another. Knowing raptors’ species range might help firefighters anticipate where a fire may spread.

 

• Does this research have implications outside Australia?
  • Yes. Similar hunting methods have been reported by indigenous peoples of Africa and North America. Scientists may want to consult those with Indigenous Ecological Knowledge to help document these reports, being careful to avoid “the rather paternalistic ‘it isn’t true unless and until Western scientists confirm it’” approach.
  • Avian use of fire as a tool for landscape modification might help inform global studies in:
    • anthropology. Could early humans have learned to manipulate fire from birds?
    • geomorphology. Could birds contribute to creating or manipulating an entire landscape or ecosystem?
    • infrastructure. How might knowing a raptor’s species range influence firefighting strategy?

 

TEACHERS TOOLKIT

International Business Times: The only animal that can control fire witnessed in Australia

Nat Geo: Australia 1-page map

Crikey: Birds of the week – Firehawks of the Top End

Central Land Council: Indigenous Ecological Knowledge

(extra credit, behind a paywall) Journal of Ethnobiology: Intentional Fire-Spreading by “Firehawk” Raptors in Northern Australia