BIRDGACHA / FIELD NOTES
Oxpeckers
Oxpeckers are brown, short-legged birds with stiff tails, strong feet and conspicuously coloured bills. Both living species climb over large mammals, but the distribution of red and yellow on the bill and details around the eye distinguish them. The two species in this catalogue are Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) and Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythroryncha). They take ticks and other material from mammals, sometimes feeding at wounds rather than providing an exclusively beneficial service. Bill colour and the skin around the eye distinguish oxpeckers when a mixed gathering feeds on the same mammal.
How to recognize Oxpeckers
- Compare a red bill with a yellow-based, red-tipped bill.
- Check the colour and prominence of the bare eye ring.
- Watch climbing feet and the tail braced against a mammal's body.
Where they live
The family occurs in sub-Saharan African savannas and other open landscapes with suitable mammal hosts. Savanna, wooded grassland and other open habitats provide opportunities where suitable large mammals and their parasites occur. Dense rainforest and the driest deserts are generally unsuitable, while both wild herbivores and livestock may serve as hosts. The presence of a herd is useful context, but bill and eye details remain necessary to identify an individual bird.
Species accounts: Yellow-billed Oxpecker · Red-billed Oxpecker
Sources — natural history: Wikipedia: Oxpeckers · Cornell Birds of the World: Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus), species natural history.
Classification: IOC World Bird List: family names and classification.
Some Cornell Birds of the World account sections require a subscription.
Updated 2026-11-06. Species counts follow this site's catalogue. This is an editorial summary, not an expert peer review.
Species records retain their original English, Chinese and scientific names.
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