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The oxpeckers are two species of bird which make up the genus Buphagus, and family Buphagidae. The oxpeckers were formerly usually treated as a subfamily , Buphaginae, within the starling family, Sturnidae , but molecular phylogenetic studies have consistently shown that they form a separate lineage that is basal to the sister clades containing ...
Whatever the net result, mammals generally tolerate oxpeckers. [8] The yellow-billed oxpecker is 20 cm (7.9 in) long and has plain brown upperparts and head, buff underparts and a pale rump. The feet are strong. The adults' bills are yellow at the base and red at the tip, while juveniles have brown bills. [10] Its flight is strong and direct.
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. [4] This species's relationship with rhinos gives the Swahili name Askari wa kifaru meaning "the rhino's guard". [5]
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sanguinivores: birds that forage for and drink blood, such as oxpeckers and sharp-beaked ground finches. [141] [148] saprovores: birds that forage for and eat decaying flesh , such as vultures and crows. [141] However, the term is also used at times synonymously with "detritivore" (defined above), for eaters of any dead matter. [141] [147] [151]
Impala are symbiotically related to oxpeckers, [35] which feed on ticks from those parts of the antelope's body which the animal cannot access by itself (such as the ears, neck, eyelids, forehead and underbelly). The impala is the smallest ungulate with which oxpeckers are associated.
Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight.Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly.
Plains zebra Black rhinoceros Père David's deer Hippopotamus Blue whale Common dolphin. Below is a simplified taxonomy (assuming that ungulates do indeed form a natural grouping) with the extant families, in order of the relationships.