Watch a Tiny Bird Do a Rhino a Solid By Climbing In Its Ear and Cleaning It Out

Can you imagine if someone came up to you and said, “I can do you a solid and provide free pest control for the rest of your life”? That sounds a little bit like a dream come true, doesn’t it? Well, this large rhinoceros has had such an invitation. Only it’s not from his local pest control company. Rather, it’s from one chipper little bird. 

The video posted below takes place in South Africa. We see an enormous rhinoceros out in the wild that has paused along his way to receive some much-needed pest control. As we are sure you can imagine, an animal in the wild, such as the rhino, has many ticks and parasites. 

Watch the Incredible Video Below!

The oxpecker bird has flown by and noticed this rhino. This bird knows there will be much delicious food on this rhino that they can use to fill themselves up. As much as we might imagine this rhino would be annoyed and might crush this small bird, the opposite happens!

This rhino welcomes this small bird to climb on its body, eat away all the parasites, and tick to its heart’s content. Or rather, we should say to its stomach content. 

The video posted below shows the oxpecker bird climbing into this rhino’s large ear and pecking at each little bug there. In addition to this, we also see the bird climbing around the rhino’s legs and feet. Other oxpecker bird friends quickly join him! This rhino almost seems like he is having a relaxing spa day!

Why do Animals Clean Other Animals?

Animals who clean one another have a relationship that is mutually beneficial only for what they get out of that relationship.

According to Dalhousie University, cleaning other animals can be defined as cleaning symbiosis. Their definition for this is that “Cleaning symbiosis is a 3-party symbiotic relationship in which cleaning organisms act as micro-carnivores and use the body surfaces of their host fishes as a feeding substratum. They graze on their hosts’ ectoparasites as well as host tissues and mucus.”

As we can see from the video posted below, not only did this large rhino benefit by remaining clean but this oxpecker bird benefited by staying full of food! If they can both benefit from each other, why not help the other?

How Large Are Oxpeckers?

Oxpeckers are a species that eat entirely from the bodies of large animals. There are two species, the red-billed (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) and the yellow-billed (Buphagus africanus), that are named for their habit of sitting on large animals to eat parasites. Both species are about eight inches long and weigh close to two ounces.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Nwdph/Shutterstock.com