Free Ride, Free Lunch

Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Oxpeckers ride an impala. The adult has red around the eye, while the juvenile lacks this coloration.

Buphagidae

by Inspector Barry Mins on March 15, 2022

Hey kids, welcome back to our series on the mysteries of created kinds!

This week we head to the savannas of Africa. Again, we are looking for birds, and they will not be hard to find—we just have to look on the backs of some of the many large herbivores on the savanna.

Two by Tuesday

These birds are well known for riding the backs and sides of large mammals. In fact, they derive their name from one of their common hosts. Their preference for host organisms is the African buffalo, but they will gladly ride other large herbivores as well.1 If the preferred buffalo hosts are removed, the oxpeckers adapt to other large herbivores nearby.2 While getting a free ride from their hosts, these birds also get a free meal. They feed on ticks, small insects, and the blood of their host. They have been shown to reduce tick presence on their host by up to 95%.3 Given that they spend up to 40% of their life feeding, that should not be surprising.4 However, there is no connection between the presence of ticks and the number of these birds.5 The birds prefer ticks but will gladly drink the blood of their host if there are not enough ticks to go around.6 This is called conditional mutualism.

As much fun as it would be, these birds do not nest on the backs of their hosts. Instead, they will build nests in tree hollows and breed during the African rainy season.7 Parents may lay up to five eggs in rare cases.

  • Oxpecker

    Red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) on a female impala.
    Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Oxpeckers

    Oxpeckers on an African buffalo.
    Ray in Manila, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Has anyone figured it out yet? This week might be one of the easier ones if you are familiar with African wildlife documentaries. This week’s kind is the Buphagidae, or the oxpecker kind. The two species of these unique birds are found throughout Africa.

Try out this fun crossword puzzle! Next week we move to Central and South America, looking for a slithering reptile.

Clue

Your clue for the next week is:

This snake species mimics the more well known coral snake and has a fragile tail.

Ask a Question

Have you ever had a question about created kinds but didn’t know who to ask? Have you ever wanted to learn more about your favorite kind? Well, now you can! You can ask me, Inspector Barry Mins, a question! Have your parents help you fill out this form, and you might get your question answered in my column! If you have any questions about created kinds, feel free to send them my way!

Footnotes

  1. J. H. Grobler and G. W. Charsley. “Host preference of the yellow-billed oxpecker Buphagus africanus in the Rhodes Matopos National Park, Rhodesia.” African Journal of Wildlife Research, 8, no. 4 (1978), 169–170.
  2. James Dale. “The effect of the removal of buffalo Syncerus caffer (Sparman 1779) on the host selection of yellow-billed oxpeckers Buphagus africanus Linnaeus 1766 in Zimbabwe.” Tropical Zoology, 5, no. 1 (1992), 19–23.
  3. J. D. Bezuidenhout and C. J. Stutterheim. “A critical evaluation of the role played by the red-billed oxpecker Buphagus erythrorhynchus in the biological control of ticks.” Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 47 (1980), 51–75.
  4. Irene M. Stutterheim, J. D. Bezuidenhout, and E. G. R. Elliot. “Comparative feeding behavior and food preferences of oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus and B. africanus) in captivity.” Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 55 (1988), 173–179.
  5. Erin C. Welsh, Felicia Keesing, and Brian F. Allan. “Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus, Buphagus africanus) and tick abundances in acaricide-treated livestock areas.” African Journal of Ecology, (2018), 1–5.
  6. Tiffany B. Plantan. “Feeding behavior of wild and captive oxpeckers (Buphagus spp.): a case of conditional mutualism.” PhD dissertation, 2009.
  7. C. J. Stutterheim. “Timing of breeding of the red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) in the Kruger National Park.” South African Journal of Zoology, 17, no. 3 (1982), 126–129.