birds & crocs

[transmothra]

you know those little birds that hang around inside of crocodiles’ mouths all day, picking meat from their teeth? well, what i wanna know is: who exactly came up with that seemingly risky symbiotic relationship? who brokered that deal? if it was the birds, it seems like none of their ilk would have agreed to take such an insane proposal to the crocs. but if it was the crocs, why were they stupid enough to agree not to eat them little buggers? sounds like one of those elusive free lunches to me.

[Darwin_s_Finch]

You are undoubtedly referring to the Egyptian plover (Pluvianus aegyptius), which has a symbiotic relationship with the Nile crocodile. The bird provides two services for the croc: lookout and dentist. In return, the crocodile serves the bird by not eating it while the latter is rooting about the former’s mouth for parasites (well, that, and whatever food the plover gets from the croc’s mouth).

If I has to guess (behaviors such as this generally aren’t captured in the fossil record), I’d say the bird (or one of its ancestors) originated the practice, and the croc just kind of went along with it. It’s not like the little feathered guy is going to make a very satisfying meal, so why not let him clean your teeth? And, if any angry hippos wander by, the little guy can warn the big guy (by fleeing for its own life, probably, but hey, it’s something).

[Darwin_s_Finch]

“If I had to guess…”, that is.

[Colibri]

According to this site, the tale is almost certainly a myth and thus requires no explanation.

The “crocodile bird” is more properly referred to as the Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius, although it is not a true plover and usually placed in the same family as pratincoles and coursers:

**There is a wonderful myth about the Egyptian Plover as the “Crocodile Bird,” having its origins in the visit of Herodotus to Egypt in 459 BC and nicely summarized by Maclean (1996): “His account of a small bird picking food from the teeth of a gaping crocodile referred, it has been suggested, to the Egyptian Plover. Whether or not this is so, the tale was further romanticized by A. Brehm in the nineteenth century and R. Meinertzhagen in the twentieth century, both of whom stated that they had personally seen the Egyptian Plover picking the teeth of crocodiles on more than one occasion.”

Alas, to spoil the legend, Maclean (1996) concludes that “no reliable observer since then has seen [it] acting as a crocodile toothpick… The myth has been perpetuated in the literature and needs finally to be laid to rest, unless contrary proof can be found.”**

Meinertzhagen, as I recall, was also known to fabricate other data.

Reference: Maclean, G. L. 1996. Family Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). Pp. 364-383 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

[Colibri]

This crocodile farm has this to say:

**The crocodile bird is a small wader that originates from Africa and that is very much associated with the image of the crocodile of the Nile.

At the farm, one can see him pick and scratch about in the sand in search of insects not far from the big crocodiles. Some say that from time to time he goes picking and scratching in the jaw of the monster? Legend or reality what is true is that at Pierrelatte, we have never seen them do such a thing.**