African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) with Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus africanus) - 10 July 2013. Ndutu Safari Lodge, Arusha Region, Tanzania.

Actually a type of Ox, the African Buffalo is divided into two distinct groups, the Forest Buffalo and the Savannah or Cape Buffalo. These two differ strongly in size, appearance, behavior and habitat, but there are intermediates and mixed types. The bird on the buffalo's face is a Yellow-billed Oxpecker.

Oxpeckers are usually classified as belonging to their own family, the Buphagidae, or are merged with the starlings in Sturnidae. Currently both Clements and IOC put them in their own family. They are famous for clambering on large mammals feeding on ticks and blood-sucking flies. They are also accused of keeping wounds open, perhaps to feed on the blood. It appears that they are declining in Tanzania, but are still considered to be of "least concern" because of the large existing population elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Nikon P510 Coolpix Point-and-shoot
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