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Resistance of wild A frican ungulates to foraging by red‐billed oxpeckers ( B uphagus erythrorhynchus ): evidence that this behaviour modulates a potentially parasitic interaction
Author(s) -
Bishop Anne L.,
Bishop Richard P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/aje.12093
Subject(s) - foraging , ungulate , biology , host (biology) , resistance (ecology) , forage , zoology , ecology , host resistance , habitat , immunology
Field observations of the interactions between red‐billed oxpeckers ( B uphagus erythrorhynchus ) and wild ungulates in N akuru N ational P ark, K enya, revealed that specific hosts frequently attempted to manipulate oxpecker foraging. This involved a repertoire of behaviour collectively referred to as resistance behaviour, and often resulted in the oxpeckers either changing their position on the host's body or departing. Cape buffalo ( S yncerus caffer), the most frequently used host, performed little resistance behaviour. Waterbuck ( K obus ellipsiprymnus ) were also popular oxpecker hosts, but frequently exhibited vigorous resistance behaviour. Impala ( A epyceros melampus ), the third most widely used host species, also utilized resistance behaviours, but allowed a greater proportion of oxpeckers to forage without disturbance. The suite of resistance behaviours employed by waterbuck, impala and also the consequences for oxpecker foraging, differed significantly. Our data suggest that the oxpecker–ungulate interactions in the field are more complex than previously realized with resistance behaviour regularly employed by selected mammalian host species.