oxpecker

Either of two species of African birds belonging to the starling family. They were thought to climb around on the bodies of large mammals, feeding on ticks and other parasites and on cattle earwax, but in a British study, published in April 2000, of red-billed oxpeckers on oxen in Zimbabwe, researchers found that the oxpeckers were not eating the oxen ticks, but were feeding on blood by pecking at existing wounds. Oxpeckers are usually seen in groups of seven or eight, attending a herd of buffaloes or antelopes, and may help to warn the host of approaching dangers.

Oxpeckers belong to the species Buphagus africana, family Sturnidae, order Passeriformes. Both species have dingy brown plumage, a tawny undersurface and tail, and large laterally flattened colourful bills – one species has a red bill, the other a red and yellow bill.