Friday 10 August 2012

Oxpeckers on a dead giraffe!

As a lion researcher (and a crazy birder I guess) I am constantly watching the skies for vultures!
A few days ago I found a dead giraffe that had apparently died of birthing complications and so left her untouched in the hope that a lion would come and feed that night. When I returned the next day I was amazed to see several Red-billed oxpeckers sitting on the carcass and apparently foraging around the giraffe's head. As I approached the flew off and that is when I noticed that vultures had only managed to take an eye and open a small hole behind her ear. There was a pool of blood in the hole behind the ear and as all the ticks must have left the carcass (now over 24hrs old) the birds must have been there to drink that blood.
                                                         The Hwange Birder

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