These birds eat and sleep in a strange place — a giraffe's armpit! By National Geographic Society, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.30.20 Word Count 442 Level 430L

Image 1. A yellow-billed oxpecker perches on the head of a giraffe in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. Photo by: Hal Beral/Getty Images

Some small African birds like to sleep where they eat. They enjoy a tasty meal. They fall right asleep in the same spot. Then, when they wake up, breakfast is waiting.

These birds picked a strange place for their feast. They sleep and snack in a giraffe's armpit!

Helping Each Other

The bird is a yellow-billed oxpecker. It has brown feathers and a bright yellow beak. Scientists have studied the bird. They know it perches on big animals during the day. It particularly likes sitting on giraffes.

The birds and the giraffe are useful to each other. The birds get food from the giraffe. They pick out tiny bugs from the giraffe's hair. The bugs are a healthy meal for the birds. The giraffe gets something too. Its hair is cleaner and healthier thanks to the bird.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Scientists studied the yellow-billed oxpecker for many years. They set up cameras. The camera took photos of the birds. The results were surprising to scientists. The photos showed the bird sleeping on animals at night. Scientists had never seen this before. They took the pictures in Tanzania. It is a country in Africa.

A Safe Place To Snuggle

Meredith Palmer is a scientist. She studies how animals interact in nature. Palmer thinks she knows why the yellow-billed oxpecker sleeps on the giraffe. It feels safe there. The giraffe's armpit is a cozy place. Sometimes, seven birds snuggle in one armpit!

Yellow-billed oxpeckers are picky eaters. They eat only certain bugs. The giraffe's hair is full of these bugs. So the bird has a lot to eat. If it leaves the giraffe, another bird might take its place. The giraffe might move away. The bird's food would be gone.

The yellow-billed oxpecker has a cousin. It is called the red-billed oxpecker. During the day, it likes to sleep on big animals like buffalo. But scientists have never seen it sleep there at night. Only the yell0w-billed oxpecker seems to do this.

A Taste For Blood

Oxpeckers eat more than tiny bugs. They pick out goop from an animal's eyes. They clean snot from their noses. It all tastes good to the birds.

The relationship is not always friendly, though. Some red-billed oxpeckers act like vampires. They dig into an animal's wounds. They drink its blood. The animals do not seem bothered by it.

That may seem strange. Scientists think they know why. They think oxpeckers help clean the animal's wounds. They may keep away blowflies too. Blowflies would be more annoying than the birds.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Quiz

1 Where does a yellow-billed oxpecker sleep?

(A) wherever it lands

(B) in a nest in a tree

(C) in a giraffe armpit

(D) on top of a giraffe

2 Which sentence from the section "A Safe Place To Snuggle" explains one reason why yellow-billed oxpeckers sleep on giraffes?

(A) Palmer thinks she knows why the yellow-billed oxpecker sleeps on the giraffe.

(B) Sometimes, seven birds snuggle in one armpit!

(C) If it leaves the giraffe, another bird might take its place.

(D) Only the yellow-billed oxpecker seems to do this.

3 How do these birds help giraffes?

(A) by eating bugs on giraffes

(B) by scaring bugs off giraffes

(C) by protecting giraffes

(D) by protecting bugs

4 Where do red-billed oxpeckers like to sleep in the daytime?

(A) on big animals

(B) with their cousins

(C) near giraffes

(D) in their nests

5 What would happen to giraffes if there were no oxpeckers?

(A) A giraffe would be less snotty.

(B) A giraffe would have more fur.

(C) A giraffe would have fewer bugs.

(D) A giraffe would have drippy eyes.

6 What is the article MAINLY about?

(A) the ways different types of African birds help animals like giraffes

(B) the relationship between yellow-billed oxpeckers and giraffes

(C) the differences between yellow-billed oxpeckers and red-billed oxpeckers

(D) the reasons why oxpeckers live in Africa

7 Why does a giraffe let birds peck a cut?

(A) The giraffe is friends with birds.

(B) The giraffe is too sick to move.

(C) The birds are cleaning the cut.

(D) The birds are really hungry.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 8 What is the MAIN topic of the section "A Taste For Blood"?

(A) Red-billed oxpeckers eat bugs and the snot of some animals.

(B) Red-billed oxpeckers drink the blood of some animals, but yellow-billed oxpeckers do not.

(C) Red-billed oxpeckers help some animals by drinking their blood.

(D) Red-billed oxpeckers mostly eat the snot of animals, but yellow-billed oxpeckers mostly eat bugs.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.