Bird experts surprised by oxpeckers

Oxpeckers help each other raise their offspring. Initial results of a research project in the eastern Zambezi region point to this astonishing finding. A chick in a nest observed by the researchers was being cared for by several adult oxpeckers. Among them was a bird that had been ringed in a village 15 km away.

The English name of the birds is slightly misleading. They are known to perch on host animals and rid them of ticks and other parasites. They also warn their host of approaching predators.

Oxpeckers (Buphagidae), according to Wikipedia, form a separate family with a genus of the same name and only two recognised species: red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) and yellow-billed oxpecker (Buphagus africanus).

Ten oxpeckers fitted with tracking devices

The project to study oxpeckers in the eastern Zambezi region started in 2019. It is being conducted by lecturer in wildlife management and eco-tourism at the University of Namibia (UNAM) campus in Katima Mulilo, Sinvula Michael Lukubwe. His research area is the Salambala Communal Conservancy at the Ngoma border post on the Chobe River, the border river to Botswana.

With the support of bird experts, oxpeckers are caught, measured and ringed. A veterinarian takes blood samples, which are analysed for traces of possible insect venom. Faeces samples provide information about host animals - for example buffalo and rhinos, but also livestock such as cattle.

Last August, bird experts Mark Boorman from Swakopmund and Dirk Heinrich from Windhoek fitted ten oxpeckers with tracking devices. Using receivers at strategic points, Lubukwe can track the movements of these birds.

The Chobe River Camp of the Gondwana Collection supports the research project. Lubukwe installed a camera there to observe a oxpecker nest located in a hollowed-out pole at the edge of the terrace. The records show that at least five adult birds were looking after the chick.

Read more about the research project in a detailed report by bird expert and photographer Dirk Heinrich on the website of the Gondwana Collection Namibia.