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I was watching the programme "Life of Birds" by David Attenborough yesterday and he was showing how not only do the oxpeckers eat ticks off their host animals as we all knew, but the ear wax out of the ears and also any dandruff the animals might have.

They also pick constantly at a wound, to keep it bleeding so as to have a supply of blood

It seems there is more to our "little cleaners" than we realize.

They are not always as helpful as would seem. As stated they keep wound open to attract parasite which they eat.

There are two types of Oxpeckers, the Red-billed and the Yellow-billed Oxpeckers.
Is there any behaviour differences between the two

Hi Leopardspotter

My bird book tells me that the yellowbilled variety which is found more in the north and often near water, and found in association with buffalo, rhino and hippo, whereas the redbilled variety commom in the north and East prefers hairier animals such as giraffe and buck.

The Oxpeckers are having an absolute feast currently, as we noticed a heavy infestation of ticks on all the animals, I guess with all the long grass.

A couple of shots from this years trip.

Richard

http://www.pbase.com/richardharris/june_2006

Ons of the most reliable alarm makers in the bush.

And quite a noisy one on top of that…..

Great shots Jumbo

Thanks Bert, but it will be dishonest to take credit …the zebra with the birds was parading up and down in front of our veranda at our bush house. It is actually quite difficult to get a nice pix of these guys in Kruger…they are normally very skittish.
Beautiful pix WTM!

BTW, we have noticed that these birds really love drinking water. When they are in the area they constantly visit the birdbath for a drink…permanently flying between the animals and the water. Some other birds we noticed are also very dependent on water are the Mousebirds.

They appear to drink milk as well...

What an obliging Impala.
But a fascinating glimpse of what happens in the wilds.
Thanks Duques.