Red-billed oxpeckers hitching rides on the backs of black rhinos are a common sight in the African bush. The birds are best known for feeding from lesions full of ticks or other parasites on a rhino’s ...
In sub-Saharan Africa, red-billed oxpeckers feed on the parasites of rhinos and more than 20 other species of mammal. Now, new research suggests the birds may also serve as sentinels that help rhinos ...
If you’re a rhino of any kind, then you’d probably always want to keep your distance from humans. Rhinos have a long history of being prime targets for animal poaching because of their valuable facial ...
In Swahili, red-billed oxpeckers are called Askari wa kifaru, or "the rhino's guard." Now, a paper appearing April 9 in the journal Current Biology suggests that this indigenous name rings true: ...