You may be familiar with \u201cThe Big Five\u201d in Africa: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. What you may not know is that there are other smaller animals calling the shots behind the scene. Today we take a look at the red-billed oxpecker and its dynamic role in Southern African ecology. We\u2019ll learn that, though they can sometimes be harmful to their hosts, they can be incredibly beneficial to many animals, including impala, buffalo, rhino and even humans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You may be familiar with \u201cThe Big Five\u201d in Africa: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. What you may not know is that there are other smaller animals calling the shots behind the scene. Today we take a look at the red-billed oxpecker and its dynamic role in Southern African ecology. We\u2019ll learn that, though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2442,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/uncc-birds.s3.amazonaws.com\/season01\/Safari-Shorts-Red-Billed-Oxpeckers.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"6:29","filesize":"6.5M","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"tags":[],"series":[4],"class_list":["post-65","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry","series-winging-it"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.charlotte.edu\/biology-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1037\/2021\/02\/LOGO-2.jpg?fit=1400%2C1400&ssl=1","download_link":"https:\/\/sites.charlotte.edu\/biology-birds\/podcast-download\/65\/safari-shorts-red-billed-oxpeckers","player_link":"https:\/\/sites.charlotte.edu\/biology-birds\/podcast-player\/65\/safari-shorts-red-billed-oxpeckers","audio_player":"https:\/\/sites.charlotte.edu\/biology-birds\/podcast-player\/65\/safari-shorts-red-billed-oxpeckers<\/a>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/sites.charlotte.edu\/biology-birds\/feed\/podcast\/winging-it","embedCode":"Safari Shorts Red Billed Oxpeckers<\/a><\/blockquote>