Oxpecker and zebra seeing eye to eye on ticks

Red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) clinging to Burchell's zebra forehead and plucking ticks off the zebra's body in a scissor-like fashion. Such a symbiotic relationship is said to be mutualistic when the bird is fed and the mammal species is rid of parasites. There is controversy on the mutualistic nature of the relationship when oxpeckers eat the wound tissue: some scientists claim the wounds are kept clean while others claim the sores are prevented form healing quickly. Captured in the Burunge Wildlife Management Area of the Babati District of Manyara Region, Tanzania.