In Touch With Nature – The role of the Oxpecker bird in nature #oxpeckers #giraffes #rhinos
Posted: July 24, 2024 Filed under: Animals, Books, Collection, Nature, Poetry, Wildlife | Tags: African Wildlife, Codependency, Cohabitation, Girraffes, In Touch With Nature, Oxpeckers, Rhinos, Writing to be Read 39 Comments
When I go on safari into the Southern African bush, I frequently see oxpecker birds. When I spot them, they are nearly always sitting on the heads, necks, or backs of a giraffe, buffalo, or rhino. This is because oxpeckers, either the yellow-billed or the red-billed species, feed almost exclusively on ixodid ticks, dead skin, saliva, blood, sweat and tears that they collect from the skins of large African mammals. The behaviour of oxpecker birds keeps the birds well fed and reduces the parasite load on the animal. Parasites such as ticks can pass on deadly diseases as well as causing anemia in their mammal host making the animal more susceptible to illnesses.
Oxpeckers are not all good news for their animal hosts as they are sanguinivores which means that blood comprises a large part of their diet. They eat ticks for the blood they provide and a wound on an animal is an enticing blood meal. Oxpeckers peck at wounds on their hosts and can reopen them in an effort to access fresh blood.
Oxpeckers also serve as an alarm system for mammals. Their Swahili name, askari wa kifaru, means the rhino’s guard. Rhinos have very poor eye sight which puts them at a severe disadvantage when it comes to poaching. Research has show that rhinos who act as hosts to oxpeckers are less likely to be shot by poachers because the oxpeckers create a commotion when they see danger approaching. They also warn herbivores about the approach of predators like lions or hyenas.
If you look carefully at this video, you’ll see the oxpecker on the giraffe’s head. There is also one near the shoulders.
The following poem may disturb sensitive readers!
The following poem is extracted from my poetry book, Lion Scream.
Rhino Dilemma
Near-sighted eyes observe
Through tall, swaying grass
Yellowish curtain hides heavy-set body
But, camouflage fails him
The poachers close in
***
Small bird cries a warning
Animal reacts
Stands upright, facing the wind, ready for flight
Tranquiliser gun fires
Ground shakes when beast falls
***
Savage men move quickly
Hack out valued horn
Animal left bleeding; awakes to sure death
Tears of pain and anguish
Slide from fading eyes
About Rhino Dilemma
At the start of the 20th century, there were over 500,000 rhinos living in the wild. Today, that number has dropped to less than 30,000 and they are critically endangered. The main threats to rhino today are poaching and loss of habitat.
Rhino Dilemma is about the brutal slaying of rhinos for their horns. I wrote this poem after a visit to a national park in North West Province. The rhinos in the park are all dehorned.
The guide told us a horrific story about a male southern white rhino weeping in pain after poachers hacked off his horn and removed part of the bone in his skull in a South African game reserve.
On my return home, I researched this incident and found this article about a rhino crying tears after being brutally attacked and injured by a poacher. It makes me cry too: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10152157/Heartbreaking-mages-Southern-White-rhino-weeping-pain-poachers-hacked-horn.html
I wrote “Rhino Dilemma” to share the plight of the rhinos to readers in my community.
About Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
Roberta has two published novels and a collection of short stories and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).
Roberta is also the author and illustrator of sixteen children’s books, illustrator to a further three children’s books, and the author and illustrator of three poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.
Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5
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Fascinating information, Robbie. Thanks.
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My pleasure, Darlene. Nature is very amazing.
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That poem beautifully captured symbiosis as well a bit of parasitism. The Oxpecker seems to be an amazing bird. It is so sad that the poaching of Rhinos for their horns still happen.
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Hi Thomas, thank you, I’m delighted you enjoyed this post. The purpose to which the rhino horn is put is so completely ridiculous that it makes the whole situation even worse and more dreadful for someone like me.
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I’m going to reveal my ignorance here, but for what purpose is the rhino horn used? It all seems so senseless. The poor animals. Does human cruelty have no limits?
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Hi Kaye, it is ground up to a powder and used in traditional Chinese medicines. There are much better alternatives available but the rhinos continue to die.
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Oxpeckers and what they do is fascinating, Robbie; thanks for the education!
And your powerful poem is heartbreaking. 😦
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Thank you, Dave. I am always fascinated by the relationships between oxpeckers and animals. That poem is tragic, as was the article that inspired it.
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How interesting! I’ve never heard of an oxpecker bird.
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HI Stevie, the birds are small and fade into insignificance next to the hosts. I think the relationship is fascinating.
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Great information and photos, Robbie. Everyone should be upset by the poaching and torture of rhinos and other animals.
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Hi Merril, thank you. I agree but I put the warning as some people are very sensitive.
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You’re welcome, Robbie!
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This is fascinating information, Robbie. A casual observer of birds on the necks of giraffes or on the backs of rhinos might not know their purpose or understand how these birds are self-serving as well as helping their hosts. Nature without these dependencies can be brutal, and the impact poachers have on animals is sad.
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Hi Barbara, nature never ceases to astonish me. I love going into the bush and can watch animals for hours.
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Fascinating avian information! “Rhino Dilemma” is absolutely gut-wrenching.
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Hi Liz, this is the most upsetting poem in the book. The brutal killings of rhinos by poachers is just so devastating.
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That kind of cruelty to an animal is just beyond the pale.
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Yes, but the perpetrators are people who’ve grown up with no kindness and probably experienced a lot of cruelty themselves. We reap what we sow in society.
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Good point.
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Hi, I’m new here. But your piece on the bird speaks to my concern about the environment and how we are destroying it. I appreciate pieces like this.
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Hi Leonard, it’s great to meet another reader with an interest in conservation. I write a piece about Southern African wildlife on this blog on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Next month I’ll be featuring elephants which are one of my favourite animals.
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Hey! Leonard.
How wonderful to see you enjoying Robbie’s work.
She’s pretty Amazing.
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Thank you, Patty.
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Wonderful post, Robbie. It makes me so angry to know that poachers are still cutting off horns and leaving the animals to die. Your poem is perfect.
(By the way, the link regarding the rhino crying does not work.)
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Hi Dale, thanks for letting me know about the link. I have updated it. The rhino horn situation makes me feel physically ill.
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My pleasure. And yes. it makes me physically ill, too. The reasons behind it make zero sense to me, as well.
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People can be very odd.
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And cruel.
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Amazing the strange diets various species adapt to.
I’ve always wondered why rhinos evolved to have poor eyesight which is a disadvantage, though maybe before humans started hunting them they had no predators.
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Rhinos have very good hearing and a great sense of smell. They never needed good eyesight before men decided to start destroying them with guns. Now they have oxpecker birds to help them. I understand these birds give rhinos warnings about poachers. An interesting development.
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I knew that rhinos were severely endangered because of poaching but I didn’t realize it was so brutal.
I also did not know about oxpeckers at all. What an interesting reciprocal relationship–another example of how life is all connected. (K)
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Hi Kerfe, I know, nature is a wonderful thing.
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Robbie, thank you for educating readers on oxpeckers. The bird and African animals are a win-win. I will never understand poachers.
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Hi Jennie, thanks for visiting. The oxpecker relationship is fascinating.
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Such tragic stories about the rhinos.
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Hi Craig, it is tragic. Hopefully the use of rhino horn in traditional Chinese medicine will die out with time. I live in hope.
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