Brown Falcon perched calmly on a branch with a forest fire burning in the background, smoke and flames rising behind the bird.

Firehawks: Australia’s Birds That Set Wildfires to Drive Prey

Australia’s native people have long described raptors carrying fire to start new fires.  In tropical savannas of northern Australia, these “firehawks” – birds including Black Kites, Whistling Kites, and Brown Falcons – patrol near bushfires and at times pick up smoldering sticks that they drop later in green grass. Scientists have now confirmed this remarkable […]

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