Oxpeckers

Yellow-billed Oxpeckers
Namusasha Reserve, Namibia
2014:05:19

D800
500mm
1/800 sec, f/7.1
Mode: Av
Metering: Spot
ISO: 400
White balance: Auto

The yellow-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.

An adult will take nearly 100 engorged female Boophilus decoloratus ticks, or more than 12,000 larvae in a day.

However, their preferred food is blood, and while they may take ticks bloated with blood, they also feed on it directly, pecking at the mammal's wounds to keep them open to more parasites.