Brad photographed several Yellow-billed Oxpeckers, Buphagus africanus, during an afternoon birding expedition on August 21, 2012. Our boat left Nxamaseri Island Lodge (Maun, Botswana) and headed to the lagoon where we boarded a safari vehicle so we could look for additional species. Oxpeckers are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Sharp claws allow them to cling to large mammals where they use their bills to comb an animal's fur to look for ticks and bloodsucking flies. The Yellow-billed Oxpecker has a red tipped yellow bill, a pale rump and upper tail coverts. It uses its tail as a prop (like a Woodpecker). Since an Oxpecker's diet consists of their host's blood and mucus, they will keep pecking at a wound to encourage additional blood flow. On the bright side, an Oxpecker's presence may reduce the grooming time required by a mammalian host by a third. Temperatures were close to 90 degrees with clear blue skies.