The two oxpecker species reveal the role of movement rates and foraging intensity in species coexistence

The two Buphagus oxpecker species are specialized passerines that forage
for ticks and other food particles on the body of ungulates in the African
savannas. One of their intriguing features is their ability to coexist
despite sharing the same, specialized diet. Using co-occurrence data
(photographs of giraffes with oxpeckers on them) and Approximate Bayesian
Computing, we demonstrate that yellow-billed oxpeckers changed host faster
than red-billed oxpeckers and appeared to displace red-billed oxpeckers
from preferred giraffe body parts. Conversely, red-billed oxpeckers
exhibited a fuller use of each host and displaced yellow-billed oxpeckers
from distal giraffe body parts. These findings highlight that the
partition of giraffe hosts in two separate niches was only part of the
coexistence story in this species pair. More precisely, the oxpeckers
shared resource by exploiting it at different rates. They engaged in
different trade-offs between giving-up density, patch discovery rate, and
competitor displacement ability. They illustrate the importance of the
time frame of interactions.