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“Brown Rhino & Blue Bird”

This big daddy rhino seemed quite comfortable grazing and moving along on a ridge almost above our safari vehicle, allowing me to get an on-the-level photo of him. Whilst all this was happening an equally interested 3rd party in the form of a starling was joining the rhino for his morning breakfast in order to feast on any ticks and other insects he disturbed as he walked and grazed, these insects would fly up when disturbed only for themselves to become breakfast.

White Rhino - Ceratotherium simum
Cape Glossy Starling - Lamprotornis nitens

White rhinos are the second largest land mammal after the elephant. Adult males can reach 1.85m in height and tip the scales at a massive 3.6 tonnes. White rhinos have almost no hair and two horns. The front horn averages 60cm, but occasionally reaches 150cm in length. Adult males defend territories of roughly 1-3km2, which they mark with vigorously-scraped dung piles. White rhinos are the only grazer among the five rhino species, feeding almost exclusively on short grasses. They primarily inhabit grassy savanna and woodlands interspersed with grassy clearings.
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent plumage. The species feeds on the ground and in trees on fruit and insects; often it scavenges from people or in this case from a rhino.

Nikon D4, Sigma 50-500mm f4.5 – 6.3 G lens @ 500mm 1/1600 sec @ F18, ISO 4500.
Photograph at Mala Mala
Photograph by Andrew Woodburn