>Buphagus erythrorhynchus of east Africa (Red-billed Oxpecker)

Red-billed Oxpecker

Red-billed Oxpecker
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Buphagidae/Sturnidae
Genus:	Buphagus
Species:	B. erythrorhynchus
Binomial name
Buphagus erythrorhynchus Stanley, 1814
Range of the Red-billed Oxpecker

The Red-billed Oxpecker, Buphagus erythrorhynchus, is a passerine bird in the starling and myna family Sturnidae; some ornithologists regard the oxpeckers to be in a family by themselves, the Buphagidae. It is native to the savannah of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Central African Republic east to Sudan and south to northern and eastern South Africa. Its range overlaps that of the more dominant Yellow-billed Oxpecker.

The Red-billed Oxpecker nests in tree holes lined with hair plucked from livestock. It lays 2-5eggs with three being the average. Outside the breeding season it forms large, chattery flocks.

The Red-billed Oxpecker feeds on ticks found on other animals such as this Impala

The preferred habitat is open country, and the Red-billed Oxpecker eats insects. Both the English and scientific names arise from this species' habit of perching on large wild and domesticated mammals such as cattle and eating ticks. An adult will take nearly 100 engorged female Boophilus decoloratus ticks, or more than 12,000 larvae in a day.

However, their favorite food is blood, and while they may take on ticks bloated with blood, they also feed on it directly, pecking at the mammal's wounds to keep them open to more parasites. So, what good the bird does for the mammal is negated by it keeping the wounds open to parasites and disease.

This is a medium-sized passerine, 20 cm long with strong feet. The Red-billed Oxpecker has plain brown upperparts and head, buff underparts and a pale rump. The bill is red, and adults have a yellow eyering, both clear distinctions from the related Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Its flight is strong and direct, and the call is a hissy crackling trik-quisss.