Botswana, Animals

Red-billed Oxpecker

At first, you don't really notice these little guys. A giraffe, or a buffalo, or any other big animal is quite fascinating, so you don't pay much attention to their hangers-on. However, most of the charismatic megafauna have these tiny attendants.

They are red-billed oxpeckers. They eat ticks off the host animal, 100 per day according to Wikipedia.

But their preferred food is blood directly from the animal. Apparently, they will peck at wounds to keep them open. It seems that vampires are cuter than we were led to believe!