Red-billed Oxpecker

The Red-billed Oxpecker nests in tree holes lined with hair plucked from livestock. It lays 2-5, average 3, eggs. Outside the breeding season it forms large, chattery flocks.

The Red-billed Oxpecker is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

Physical characteristics: Red-billed oxpeckers have olive-brown or gray-brown upperparts, a red short, thick bill, red eyes with very noticeable yellow circles of flesh around the eyes; light gray-brown wings and tail; tan or pale yellow rump and breast, and gray legs and feet. Juveniles have a dark bill and eyes, and brown area around the eyes. Adults are 7.5 to 8.7 inches (19 to 22 centimeters) long and weigh between 1.5 and 2.1 ounces (42 and 59 grams). More

bred a Red-billed Oxpecker at its Mokopane Centre in the Limpopo Province. What made this such an extraordinary hatching is that oxpeckers are difficult birds to maintain in zoos due to their high activity levels, unique dietary requirements, and their complex relationship with ungulates. The only other record of successful breeding of captive oxpeckers is from the Zurich Zoo, in Switzerland in 1973 where the first record of a Red-billed Oxpecker to leave a nest in a zoo environment was noted. More

the Red-billed Oxpecker (left) is working through the necks hair of an Impala. Where the Red-billed Oxpecker overlaps with Yellow-billed Oxpecker (mostly in East Africa) the Red-billed especially prefers the manes of Giraffe (below) while the Yellow-billed prefers thinner-haired beasts like buffalo or rhino. Oxpeckers use their bills to make quick scissoring movements through the hair but they also spend lots of time working deep in the ears (sometimes only the tail shows) or around the muzzle, eyes or nose. More

The Red-billed Oxpecker is not an endangered species in the CITES lists but poisoning had wiped it out in certain livestock farming areas of South Africa. Now, with a little help, the Oxpecker is re-establishing itself. Red Billed OxpeckerThe Red-billed Oxpecker is a member of the starling and myna family Sturndidae. 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. More

* Red-billed Oxpecker, Buphagus erythrorhynchus of east Africa. * Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Buphagus africanus of most of sub-Saharan Africa. References - Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buphagidae 1. ^ a b c Zuccon, Dario; Cibois, Anne; Pasquet, Eric & Ericson, Per G.P. (2006). More

The Red-billed Oxpecker, Buphagus erythrorhynchus, is a passerine bird in the starling and myna family Sturndidae; 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.. The Red-billed Oxpecker nests in tree holes lined with hair plucked from livestock. It lays 2-5, average 3, eggs. Outside the breeding season it forms large, chattery flocks. More

The Red-billed Oxpecker is more common than the Yellow-billed. You won't have to look very hard, you should find them where ever you see game. They clamber about on their hosts, searching for ticks and blood-sucking flies. It does not bother the host animal, in fact this parasite-cleaning service is just what the doctor's ordered. They live in flocks and may sometimes be seen gathering on one animal before flying off. More

Red-billed Oxpecker on a Giraffe These little birds can be found wherever you see buffalo, rhino, giraffe, impala and other game. There are two types: the Red-billed and Yellow-billed. They look very similar except the Yellow-billed has a yellow bill (with a red tip) - easy! The Red-billed variety also has a distinctive yellow ring around its eyes. More

The Red-billed Oxpecker nests in tree holes lined with hair plucked from livestock. It lays 2-5, average 3, eggs. Outside the breeding season it forms large, chattery flocks. 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. More

applied to Red-billed oxpecker) ; Kamugcara (generic term for oxpecker; check: same name as Red-billed buffalo weaver and African pygmy-goose) ; Tsande (generic name for oxpecker) ; Geelsnavel-ossepikker ; Piqueboeuf à bec jaune ; Gelbschnabel-madenhacker ; Pica-bois-de-bico-amarelo Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) More

Red-billed oxpecker with a mouthful of blue ticks (Boophilus decoloratus). Red-billed oxpecker juveniles on an Impala's back. For information about oxpeckers, see birdinfo.co.za. Distribution and habitat Occurs in patches from Ethiopia and Somalia through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia to southern Africa. Here it is locally common in the open Savanna of the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa. More

A Red-billed Oxpecker with a beakful of ticks to feed chicks in a nest on a game farm in the Nylsvlei region of South Africa Game/cattle farms - Game farms are very often intertwined with cattle farms, so many game farmers have cattle farmers as neighbours. Unlike the management of cattle on farms where dipping programs are undertaken, game cannot be similarly managed for the treated against tick infestations. More

The Red-billed Oxpecker is a Southern African bird that belongs to the Sturnidae bird family group which includes birds such as Starlings, Mynans, Oxpeckers. The description for the Red-billed Oxpecker (Latin name Buphagus erythrorhynchus) can be found in the 7th Edition of the Roberts Birds of Southern Africa. The Buphagus erythrorhynchus can be quickly identified by its unique Roberts identification number of 772 and the detailed description of this bird is on page 973. More

I was so happy to finally see a red-billed oxpecker that I almost did not notice it was feeding on the back of a white rhino. Oxpeckers help rid large animals of ticks and parasites, but they also keep open small wounds on rhinos and drink the blood oozing from them. Not sure if that's such a good deal for the rhino. More

Aspects of the topic red-billed oxpecker are discussed in the following places at Britannica. Assorted References * description (in oxpecker (bird)) either of the two species of the African genus Buphagus, of the family Sturnidae (order Passeriformes). Both species—the yellow-billed (B. africanus) and the red-billed (B. More

LINKS External Web Sites The topic red-billed oxpecker is discussed at the following external Web sites. Enchanted Learning - Redbilled Oxpecker Encounter South Africa - The Red billed & Yellow billed Oxpecker Kenya Birds - Red-billed Oxpecker Citations - MLA Style: "red-billed oxpecker." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 May. 2010 . APA Style:red-billed oxpecker. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica. More