Introducing the Red-billed Oxpecker: Bird of the Year 2025
For almost 20 years, BirdLife South Africa has named a Bird of the Year. This tradition is a way of championing one of South Africa’s many incredible bird species. The BOTY is celebrated all year long to highlight the importance of conserving our precious avifauna. Although it’s always tough to narrow down the hundreds of wonderful species to just one, we’re thrilled to announce that the Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) is Bird of the Year for 2025.
The Red-billed Oxpecker, also known as the Red-billed ostrich (Afrikaans), It’s a cow (Zulu), and it lives on (isiXhosa) is a fascinating bird known for its complex relationship with large herbivores, such as buffalo, giraffes, and rhinos.
Red-billed oxpeckers are highly social and vocal, often seen in flocks, and are adaptable, feeding on a variety of animals and scavenging from carcasses when necessary. They nest in tree cavities, with both parents sharing incubation, and other members of the flock contributing to chick care. Found across sub-Saharan Africa in savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands, oxpeckers play a significant role in the ecosystem, particularly by their controlling of tick populations.
