Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Buphagus africanus

Game regions. Upperparts and entire head dark brown; underparts and rump yellow-buff; bill yellow with red tip, eyes yellow.

Not Endemic

Description

Fairly common, localised resident. Differs from [Red-billed Oxpecker] in heavy yellow bill with red tip, pale rump and upper tail coverts and longer tail. Immature has a dusky brown bill and is generally duller. Utters a hissing ‘kuss, kuss’ sound, higher-pitched than that of [Red-billed Oxpecker]. Flocks are normally seen in association with buffalo, rhinoceros, domestic cattle and donkeys.

Quick Facts

Bird Family

Considered distant relatives of starlings and endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. They have very sharp claws for clinging to large mammals. They use their bills to comb the animal's fur for ticks and bloodsucking flies. Their diet also includes the blood and mucus of host animals; they will keep pecking at a wound to encourage blood flow. Oxpeckers' presence may reduce the time spent grooming by mammalian hosts by as much as a third. Their tails are used as props in woodpecker fashion as they clamber all over their hosts.