[Posted by Chuck Almdale]

Firestarter: They set the land ablaze from the sky – and then wait for their prey to run
by Helen Pilcher, 11 Jan 2026

Humans may not be the only species to deliberately control fire. Birds of prey have been observed picking up burning sticks from wildfires, then using them to ignite new fires so they can feast on the animals that flee.

This article about raptors in the Northern Territory of Australia reminded me of a similar event we personally witnessed.

Decades ago while driving through the Kimberley region of far northwest Australia, we drove past a slow-moving grass fire, not uncommon in this grassy region with very sparse bushy vegetation. Along it’s very narrow (5-20 ft. front-to back) front, above the flames and “kiting” along the long rising plume of smoke were several kites, I forget which of the five local kite species they were. They were darting down to the ground, both in front of the flames and behind them. When we mentioned this later to one of the local birdos, he said this was common in the outback; birds, primarily if not exclusively raptors, hunting along the flame fronts, both for small creatures fleeing the flames, and for now-roasted creatures, primarily large insects, left behind on the smoking ground. This seemed very clever. We didn’t see the kites carrying burning sticks, but I can easily believe they’ve figured this out.