A hippo was groomed by some Oxpecker birds while it was grazing on a bank in Kruger National Park.

In the clip, filmed September 30, More than a dozen oxpeckers feast on the back of a hippo as it enjoys some time out of the water.

Oxpeckers are little birds that feed off of ticks and bugs living on hippos.

“To see so many birds gathering on one host was rather spectacular," says filmer Edrich Schafer. "The birds clearly made the most of this rare opportunity while the hippo was out of the water to feast on those ticks and parasites on his enormous body."

Schafer adds: “In the end, it looked like the hippo had enough of the sun and the birds and very slowly made his way back into the water.”

It was during a recent safari in the Kruger National Park that we came across a very interesting site of a big male hippo outside the water during the heat of the day with birds all over his body. Most post card images and photos would have us believe that these aquatic mammals always stay in the water during the day due to the sensitivity of their pinkish skin to the harsh sun. Majority of tourists mostly only get a glimpse of the head of a hippo sticking out the water during the day. There are those odd occasions when hippos do lie outside the water to bask in the sun, only for a very short period of time though. Every evening hippos emerge from the water and walk up to five kilometres to graze on grass across the country side. During this time parasites and ticks collect on their bodies. The flock of birds that gathered on the hippo are called Oxpeckers. The helpful birds pick off ticks and other annoying insects that can’t be reached otherwise. The video shows how they even pick around the eyes and ears of the hippo. These useful birds visit a great number of mammal hosts in the bush daily, usually in numbers of between two to five birds per host animal. To see so many birds gathering on one host was rather spectacular. The birds clearly made the most of this rare opportunity while the hippo was out of the water to feast on those ticks and parasites on his enormous body. In the end it looked like the hippo had enough of the sun and the birds and very slowly made his way back into the water.