Oxpeckers (Buphagidae)

Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) - HBW 14, p. 652

French: Piqueboeuf à bec rouge German: Rotschnabel-Madenhacker Spanish: Picabueyes Piquirrojo

Taxonomy: Tanagra erythrorhyncha Stanley, 1814, Ethiopia.
Hybrids with B. africanus recorded in Zimbabwe. Birds from R Palala, in N South Africa (E Limpopo Province), described as race caffer, and birds from Panda, in S Mozambique (Inhambane District), as race scotinus, but both considered inseparable from birds in rest of species' range; other proposed races include invictus (Somalia, NE Kenya), angolensis (SE Angola) and bestiarum (S Zimbabwe). Monotypic.

Distribution: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, extreme SE Sudan and N, W & S Somalia S, patchily, to SE DRCongo, Zambia, Malawi, extreme SE Angola, NE Namibia (Caprivi region), N & E Botswana, Zimbabwe, N & E South Africa, Swaziland and S Mozambique.