Where to see the Red-billed Oxpecker in South Africa

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Red-billed Oxpecker at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and Ithala Game Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Red-billed Oxpecker is most recorded in Mpumalanga (40% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (27% of records), Limpopo (20% of records), based on 2,761 iNaturalist observations. 34 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Red-billed Oxpecker on site or nearby.

The Red-billed Oxpecker is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Sabi Sand Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep optimal; Kwandwe Private Game Reserve: year-round, best Mar-May, Sep-Nov; Timbavati Private Nature Reserve: May-Sep, dry season. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The red-billed oxpecker is a passerine bird in the oxpecker family, Buphagidae. It is native to the eastern savannah of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Central African Republic east to South Sudan and south to northern and eastern South Africa. It is more widespread than the yellow-billed oxpecker in Southern Africa, where their ranges overlap.