White-throated Magpie-Jay picks ectoparasites off White-tailed Deer

While at Los Tarrale Natural Reserve, Guatemala on 9th August 2024, I observed a White-throated Magpie-Jay / Weißkehl-Elsternhäher (Cyanocorax formosus) perching on the back of a ruminating young male White-tailed Deer / Weißwedelhirsch (Odocoileus virginianus). The bird seemed to be picking ectoparasites from the fur and from inside the deer’s ear, with the mammal being totally relaxed. It was clearly not the first time that the deer enjoyed this interaction. Oxpecker-feeling in Central America!

White-throated Magpie-Jay feeding on ectoparasites off of White-tailed Deer | 9. August 2024 – Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, Guatemala