Thanks to Curiosity Stream for sponsoring this episode of SciShow! To learn more, go to CuriosityStream.com/SciShow.
感谢Curiosity Stream对本期节目的支持!了解更多,请前往CuriosityStream.com/SciShow。
It's no secret that birds can be pretty smart.
众所周知,鸟类非常聪明。
You've probably heard of birds using tools or solving puzzles but in Australia, they take things to the next level.
大家可能听说过鸟类会使用工具或解谜题,但是在澳大利亚,它们则是有过之而无不及。
There, some birds are said to intentionally start fires, making them the only animals besides humans known to do that!
据称,在那里的一些鸟类会蓄意纵火,它们因而成为除了人类以外唯一会纵火的动物!
Most animals don't like being near fire. The standard instinct around flames is to drop what you're doing and run.
大部分动物都不喜欢靠近火。身处火旁时的本能反应是放下手头事情马上逃跑。
But some birds of prey do just the opposite. If they spot a wildfire, they'll actually fly towards it.
但有些猛禽却恰恰相反。如果它们发现了野火,它们会朝着大火飞过去。
They've figured out that fire causes little critters to panic and flee, making them easy targets.
它们发现大火引起小动物的恐慌和逃跑,使它们成为容易攻击的目标。
As long as the birds are careful not to get burned, a fire can mean an easy meal.
只要这些鸟小心不被烧伤,那么火就意味着一顿简单的饭。
This incredible behavior is called fire foraging and it's been seen in predatory birds around the world.
这种令人难以置信的行为被称为火灾觅食,从世界各地的食肉鸟类中都能看到。
But in Australian tropical savannas, some birds seem to take this strategy a step further.
但在澳大利亚的热带稀树草原上,一些鸟类似乎采取了更进一步的策略。
They're known as firehawks because they're said to fly into active fires, carry away a burning stick in their beak or talons,
它们被称为火鹰,因为据说它们会飞进正在燃烧的火中,用喙或爪子叼走一根燃烧的棍子,
and then drop it into dry brush to start a totally new fire! There's a lot we don't know about this avian arson.
然后把它扔进干燥的灌木丛中点燃一场全新的大火!关于这种鸟类纵火案,我们还有很多不知道的。
It's never been reliably captured on photo or video, but the stories trace back generations.
照片或视频从未捕捉到它们,但是关于它们的故事可追溯到几代人以前。
Around the world, there are human cultures that have lived alongside native wildlife for hundreds or thousands of years.
在世界各地,有许多人类文化与当地野生动物共存了数百或数千年。
And these cultures can be a valuable source of what's called indigenous ecological knowledge.
并且这些文化可以成为被称为土著生态知识的宝贵来源。
And a 2017 study set out to collect this local knowledge.
Most stories identify three species as the arsonists: black kites, whistling kites,
大多数故事都将纵火犯分为三种:黑鸢、啸鸢
and brown falcons, though there may be other birds that do it, too.
以及褐隼,尽管也有其他鸟类会这么做。
And the team found that at least 12 different ethnic Aboriginal groups reported first-hand knowledge of fire-spreading in these birds.
研究小组发现,至少有12个不同的土著民族群体报告了火灾在这些鸟类中蔓延的第一手资料。
They're even in some of their religious ceremonies. One account goes as far as to suggest that early Aboriginal people
他们甚至还参加了它们的一些宗教仪式。有一种说法甚至认为,早期的原住民
may have learned the trick of fire-foraging by watching the birds!
可能是通过观察鸟类学会了取火的技巧!
The study also collected observations from non-Aboriginal people, including modern-day firefighters.
该研究还收集了来自包括现代消防员在内的非原住民的观察数据。
As you can imagine, birds that can start fires could be a real pain if you're job is to control blazes,
大家可以想象,如果你的工作是控制火势,那么那些会纵火的鸟类可能会给你带来很大的痛苦,
so local firefighters are often on the lookout for the birds.
所以当地的消防队员会经常注意这些鸟类。
One firefighter reported an instance where he spent an afternoon putting out seven different fires started by kites!
一名消防员报告称,他花了一个下午的时间扑灭了由鸢类引起的七处火灾!
And another witnessed a group of birds start a fire that burned so out of control that it damaged a local cattle station.
另一名目击者目睹了一群鸟类放火,火势失控,烧毁了当地一个养牛场。
In total, the study found accounts of fire-spreading from West Australia, Queensland,
总的来说,研究发现了来自西澳大利亚、昆士兰
and the Northern Territory — a total area of thousands of square kilometers.
和北领地—总面积达数千平方公里的火灾蔓延记录。
So it may not be video footage, but it's pretty comprehensive ethno-ornithological evidence, that is, cultural knowledge of birds.
所以它可能不是录像,但它是相当全面的人种-鸟类学证据,也就是关于鸟类的文化知识。
But the behavior still hasn't been scientifically observed and documented, so the researchers aren't done yet.
但是这种行为还没有得到科学的观察和记录,所以研究人员还没有完成研究。
They plan to conduct more interviews, set up field experiments, and equip local rangers with the tools to catch the birds in the act.
他们计划进行更多采访,建立实地实验,并为当地的护林员配备工具来捕捉鸟类。
All that will hopefully reveal how often the birds start fires and how firefighters can best plan around the behavior.
所有这一切都将揭示这些鸟类纵火的频率以及消防队员可以如何围绕这种行为做出最佳计划。
And, it may even help researchers figure out how they learned to do it in the first place!
而且,这样甚至可以帮助研究人员弄清楚这些鸟类最初是如何学会这么做的!
Everything we currently know about firehawks comes from people paying attention to nature.
我们目前所知道的关于火鹰的一切都来自于人类对大自然的关注。
Their inquisitiveness allowed them to make remarkable observations of these incredible birds.
他们的好奇心使他们能够对这些不可思议的鸟进行仔细的观察。
And, just imagine what you could learn if you indulged your curiosity a little more.
并且想象一下,如果你多满足一下你的好奇心,你能学到什么。
If you're looking for a place to start, you might want to consider Curiosity Stream.
如果你正在寻找一个开始的地方,你或许可以考虑一下Curiosity Stream。
CuriosityStream is a subscription streaming service full of documentaries and nonfiction titles,
CuriosityStream是一个订阅流媒体服务,里边都是纪录片和非小说类书籍,
so you can indulge your curiosity about pretty much everything.
所以你可以满足你几乎一切的好奇心。
For example, if you want to learn more about how harnessing fire altered humanity,
例如,如果你想更多地了解关于对火的利用如何改变人类,
you could watch their original series The History of Food.
你可以看看他们自制系列《The History of Food》。
It takes you from the invention of cooking through the industrialization of the food industry,
它将带你浏览烹饪的发明、食品工业的工业化,
and even peeks ahead at what might lie in the future.
甚至展望未来。
And you can watch it plus any of their other 2400-plus titles for less than three dollars per month.
你可以看完这支片子和其他2400多部电影,每月花仅需不到3美元。
All you have to do is head on over to curiositystream.com/scishow to subscribe.
只需前往curiositystream.com/scishow进行订阅即可。
If you use the promo code 'scishow', you'll even get your first 31 days for free!
使用优惠码‘scishow’,可获得前31天免费优惠!