A firehawk

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Dinesh ^club

. . . . Over a number of years, culminating in the study published in 2017, Aboriginal rangers and subsequently Australian scientists reported that black kites, whistling kites and brown falcons have all been seen doing something very thoughtful. They pick up burning or smoldering sticks from bush fires and carry these torches away. Sometimes they drop them because they are too hot – but the intention is to place them in dry grassy ares and set a new blaze. Once the grass is alight, the birds perch on a nearby branch and await the frenzied evacuation of small animals from the inferno, and then they feast.

Aboriginal Australians have known of these firestarters for a while. They refer to the birds as “firehawks,” which feature in several religious ceremonies, and there is a sighting in one account from I, the Aboriginal, the 1962 autobiography of an indigenous man called Waipuldanya:

I have seen a hawk pick up a smoldering 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 the area was burnt out the process was repeated elsewhere. We call these fires Jarulan. . . It is possible that our forefather learned this trick from the birds. ~ Page 53/54

7 months ago.

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A firehawk

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