Oxpecker

"Tickbird" redirects here. This term is also applied to other birds, e.g. the yellow-headed caracara (Milvago chimachima) of Latin America.

The oxpeckers are two species of bird which make up the family Buphagidae. Some ornithologists regard them as a subfamily Buphaginae within the starling family, Sturnidae, but they appear to be quite distinct. Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Both the English and scientific names arise from their habit of perching on large mammals (both wild and domesticated) such as cattle, zebras, impalas, hippopotamuses, or rhinoceroses, and eating ticks, small insects, botfly larvae, and other parasites.