Red-billed oxpeckers numbers have declined as well because of pesticides used to kill parasites on domestic cattle, which the oxpeckers also feed off of. Only an estimated 5,500 black rhinos remain in the wild. Then the rhinos either ran away or walked downwind to investigate the potential danger.īlack rhinos where at one time the most numerous species of rhino in the world, but poaching for traditional Chinese medicine has resulted in black rhinos becoming critically endangered. (Photo: Brian Scott, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)Īll the rhinos they observed responded to the oxpeckers’ alarm calls by becoming more vigilant - they stood up if they had been resting - and turned to face downwind. The researchers also reported that rhinos listening to an oxpecker’s alarm call picked up on the approaching scientists from 61 meters away, more than twice as far as when there were no oxpeckers with the rhinos.Ī red-billed oxpecker near a rhino’s ear. Rhinos without oxpeckers on their backs were able to detect the scientists approaching only 23 percent of the time, but rhinos with oxpeckers detected the scientists 100 percent of the time. They found that rhinos with a red-billed oxpecker on their backs were much better at detecting the researchers’ presence than those without an oxpecker. Researchers in the study approached 11 black rhinos by foot on the open plain on 86 occasions. Rhinos have very poor vision but oxpeckers can see exceptionally well and issue a shrill alarm call which can warn the rhinos of potential danger. These eight-inch-long brown birds with distinctive red bills and yellow-ringed red eyes can often be seen riding on the backs of large mammals, including giraffes, Cape buffalo, and endangered rhinos, where they feed on ticks and other parasites on the animals’ hides.īut new research reveals that the oxpeckers’ symbiotic services extend beyond parasite removal. LYMAN: Red-billed oxpeckers are a species of bird that lives in the African bush.
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