| any of several small, usually dull-colored birds of the family Indicatoridae, of Africa and southern Asia, certain species of which are noted for their habit of leading people or animals to nests of honeybees in order to feed on the honey, larvae, and wax of the nests after they have been broken open. |
hon·ey·guide also honey guide  (hŭn'ē-gīd')  n. Any of various tropical Old World birds of the family Indicatoridae, some species of which lead people or animals to the nests of wild honeybees. The birds eat the wax and larvae that remain after the nest has been destroyed for its honey. |
honey guide
any of about a dozen species of birds constituting the family Indicitoridae (order Piciformes). The honey guide gets its name from two African species, the greater, or black-throated, honey guide (Indicator indicator) and the scaly-throated honey guide (I. variegatus), that exhibit a unique pattern of behaviour: the bird leads a ratel (honey badger) or a man to a bees' nest by its chattering and flying ahead; after the larger animal takes honey, the bird eats the wax (the only vertebrate known to do so) and bee larvae.
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