Past and present ecological distribution of the yellowbilled oxpecker in South Africa

Abstract

The South African records of the yellowbilled oxpecker Buphagus africanus are reviewed and acceptable ones mapped. No evidence for breeding between 1907 and 1941 or after 1942 has been found though vagrants may enter the country from the north. The extinction is largely due to the inaccessibility of the preferred prey, Acarine ticks of the genera Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma, following the collapse of populations of buffalo and rhinoceros spp. coupled with eating poisoned prey due to arsenical dipping of domestic stock starting at the turn of the century. We recommend that yellowbilled oxpeckers be reintroduced to game reserves in which they used to live.