Red-billed Oxpecker

Description:

It is a passerine bird in the starling and myna family Sturnidae; some ornithologists regard the oxpeckers to be in a family by themselves, the Buphagidae The Red-billed Oxpecker nests in tree holes lined with hair plucked from livestock. It lays 2-5 eggs with three being the average. Outside the breeding season it forms large, chattery flocks. Red-billed Oxpecker eats insects. their favorite food is blood, and while they may take on ticks bloated with blood, they also feed on it directly, pecking at the mammal's wounds to keep them open to more parasites.

Habitat:

. It is native to the savannah of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Central African Republic east to Sudan and south to northern and eastern South Africa. Its range overlaps that of the more dominant Yellow-billed Oxpecker. The preferred habitat is open country.