Past and present ecological distribution of the redbilled oxpecker (<i>Buphagus erythrorhynchus</i>) in South Africa

Stutterheim, C.J.

doi:10.1080/02541858.1982.11447802

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Throughout sub-Saharan Africa RBO and YBO declines and local extinctions have been documented, particularly outside of protected areas, where large wild mammal populations have widely been replaced with livestock herds [ 17 , 18 , 30 , 31 ]. In Southern Africa, it has been conjectured that substituting livestock for wildlife on a landscape scale has caused RBO and YBO declines [ 18 , 30 ]. To assess the impact of landscape scale abundance of livestock and wildlife on oxpecker density in an East African savanna, we used a space-for-time observational approach across areas ranging from low to high conservation status in northern Tanzania [ 32 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on studies of oxpecker distribution in Southern Africa [ 18 , 30 ] and mammal distribution within our study area in northern Tanzania [ 32 , 36 ], we expect RBO and YBO density to be lowest in the least-protected study area, and to be positively correlated with the density of preferred hosts within the landscape. At the mammal community level, we anticipate that RBO and YBO feeding preferences are positively associated with host species’ body mass [ 15 , 16 , 27 – 29 ] up to a body mass threshold [ 37 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Large mammal declines and the incipient loss of mammal-bird mutualisms in an African savanna ecosystem

et al. 2018

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Over the past half-century, large mammal populations have declined substantially throughout East Africa, mainly due to habitat loss and unsustainable direct exploitation. While it has been acknowledged that the loss of large mammals can have direct and cascading effects on community composition and ecosystem characteristics, limited quantitative work has been done on how declines of large herbivore populations impacts the abundance of mutualistic symbionts. Using a space-for-time observational approach, we quantified the large mammal community alongside the densities, host preferences and behaviors of mutualistic red-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus), and yellow-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus africanus) in northern Tanzania. At the landscape scale, mammal community composition was substantially less diverse in highly human-dominated areas when compared with more protected areas, with an observed complete loss of large wild mammal species in two study areas. Mirroring this trend, oxpecker densities were lowest in the least protected areas, and highest in fully protected areas. Using resource selection functions implemented via generalized linear models at different scales, we found that oxpeckers (1) were predominantly (67% of red-billed oxpeckers; 70% of yellow-billed oxpeckers) feeding on larger (between 500kg and 1500kg) ungulate host species within the mammal community, (2) usually preferred feeding on larger individuals (adults and males) within a specific host species population, and (3) preferred hosts that were more tolerant of their presence. In particular, cattle were especially intolerant of oxpecker presence and were relatively effective in displacing oxpeckers. We found little evidence that oxpecker feeding was parasitic across all host species; wound feeding was only observed on giraffe, comprising 6% and 4% of feeding behavior in red-billed and yellow-billed oxpeckers respectively. Thus, a loss of large-bodied and oxpecker tolerant host species is a likely explanation for declines of oxpecker populations in human dominated landscapes, which may have further cascading effects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large mammal declines and the incipient loss of mammal-bird mutualisms in an African savanna ecosystem

et al. 2018

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“…Their diet consists primarily of the ectoparasites they glean from their hosts, making them the only obligate mammal gleaners in the world (Dean & MacDonald, ). In the first half of the 20th century, oxpecker populations became threatened in South Africa as a result of the use of poisonous acaricides, the over‐hunting of wild game and the rinderpest epidemic of 1896–1897 (Stutterheim & Brooke, ; Stutterheim, 1982a; Mundy, ; Hall‐Martin, ). The Yellow‐billed oxpecker Buphagus africanus became locally extinct in the early 1900s, while the abundance and distribution of the Red‐billed oxpecker Buphagus erythrorhynchus were reduced drastically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding biology of Red‐billed oxpeckers Buphagus erythrorhynchus at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa

Plantan

Howitt

Kotzé

et al. 2013

International Zoo Yearbook

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Oxpeckers Buphagus spp are unique passerines owing to their involvement in a cleaning association with domestic and wild African ungulates. Oxpeckers not only utilize their hosts for food but also use them as perches for resting, preening, displaying and copulating, as well as a source of nesting material. Because of their high activity levels, unusual dietary requirements and complex interspecific association, the management and breeding of oxpeckers is challenging. In July 2007, 21 Red‐billed oxpeckers Buphagus erythrorhynchus were collected from the wild and housed at the Mokopane Biodiversity Conservation Centre of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, Pretoria. They were fed an artificial diet supplemented with Blue ticks Boophilus decoloratus and Mealworms Tenebrio molitor. Oxpeckers had limited contact with Donkey Equus asinus hosts, which they used for plucking hair and performing their nuptial display. During the 2007–2008 oxpecker breeding season, intense intraspecific aggression and dominance exhibited by the breeding pair led to the removal of 18 oxpeckers from the enclosure. Only the breeding pair and one other adult ♀ remained in the enclosure. In December, a single ♂ Red‐billed oxpecker hatched. The remaining three adults assisted in feeding the hatchling until it began to feed entirely on its own at day 68–70. The fledgling reached adult coloration at c. 8 months.

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“…Hosts should support more oxpeckers per animal during the tick-dense wet season (when ungulates carry higher tick loads) compared with the dry season. In addition to numbers of ticks, oxpeckers may have preferences for certain species of ticks and therefore choose hosts that support preferred tick species (Stutterheim & Brooke, 1981;Stutterheim, 1982 If oxpeckers utilize certain environments, or if hosts are more likely to be discovered in certain habitats, suitable hosts that frequent such areas would be preferentially selected by oxpeckers. Environmental factors include proximity of hosts to water and visibility of hosts in a given habitat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing host selection by yellow‐billed oxpeckers at Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe

Mooring

Mundy

1996

African Journal of Ecology

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Oxpecker host selection appears to be governed by an array of factors affecting the efficiency of foraging for ticks, with optimally foraging oxpeckers choosing those hosts that maximize tick intake and/or minimize search time. We studied yellow-billed oxpeckers Buphugus ufricunus (Linnaeus) at Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe, in order to examine the relationship between host selection and seasonal tick abundance, host characteristics and water availability. Preference ranks were highly correlated between the dry and wet seasons, implying that relative tick burdens of host species did not change appreciably. The selection index (a measure of oxpeckers per host) and the density index (a measure of oxpecker density on host body surface) showed a threefold increase from dry season to wet season for all host species, presumably due to greater tick burdens on hosts during the wet season. Host selection indices were positively correlated with species-typical host body mass, indicating that oxpeckers selected largersized hosts that supported higher densities of ticks. A negative correlation between host preference and herd size during the wet season suggested that oxpeckers optimize foraging efficiency by choosing larger herds when attending smaller-bodied hosts. Hosts observed at a water source appeared to be more attractive to oxpeckers than those surveyed where water was not available. RBsumi!La selection des h6tes par le pique-boeuf semble obkir a toute une gamme de facteurs touchant l'efficacitk de la recherche de tiques, les meilleurs pique-boeufs choisissant des h6tes qui maximisent la prise de tiques et/ou diminuent le temps de recherche. Nous avons CtudiC les pique-boeufs africains, Buphagus africunus (Linnaeus), au Parc National de Matobo, au Zimbabwe, pour examiner la relation entre le choix de l'h6te et l'abondance saisonnikre de tiques, les caractkristiques de l'h6te et la disponibilitk en eau. Les ordres de prkference Ctaient t r b lies entre la saison seche et la saison des pluies, impliquant que la quantitk relative des tiques des especes h6tes ne changaient pas de faCon 0 1996 East African Wild Life Society. 178 M. S. Mooring and P. J. Mundy appreciable. L'index de selection (dknombrement des pique-boeufs par h6te) et l'index de densite (mesure de la densite de pique-boeufs sur la surface de l'h6te) montraient un triplement pour toutes les espices h6tes entre la saison seche et la saison des pluies, sans doute dij au plus grand nombre de tiques sur les h6tes pendant la saison des pluies. Les index de selection des hates Ctaient positivement lies a la masse corporelle de l'espece, indiquant que les pique-boeufs choisissaient les h6tes plus gros, qui portaient les plus grandes densites de tiques. Une correlation negative entre la preference des h6tes et la taille des troupeaux pendant la saison des pluies suggerait que les pique-boeufs optimisaient l'efficacite de leurs prelevements en choisissant les plus gros troupeaux lorsqu'ils s'occupaient de plus petits animaux. Les h6tes observes prks d'un point d'e...

show abstract

Past and present ecological distribution of the redbilled oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) in South Africa

Cited by 14 publications

References 6 publications

Large mammal declines and the incipient loss of mammal-bird mutualisms in an African savanna ecosystem

Large mammal declines and the incipient loss of mammal-bird mutualisms in an African savanna ecosystem

Breeding biology of Red‐billed oxpeckers Buphagus erythrorhynchus at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa

Factors influencing host selection by yellow‐billed oxpeckers at Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe

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