Magpie Pecks at Deer's Eyes! Bizarre footage of Mutualism in action.

I filmed this bizarre sight from the second story of my house. The mule deer didn't seem to mind and only after some deep probing by Mr Magpie did it seem to get a little miffed and shake its head. I have observed this behavior between Oxpeckers (an African bird) and Water Buffalo in the Kruger National Park in South Africa but didn't think I'd see it here in Colorado.

That is one brave deer and that beaks gotta be bloody sharp! I'm not sure I'd let some stranger dig around in my eye like that! According to Wikipedia the behavior is called Mutalism, where both creatures benefit from the act but in the Oxpeckers case there is some doubt as it they have been observed pecking at open wounds once the ticks have been removed.

Tech Notes: This video was shot on my standard definition Video Camera at full zoom through a double pane glass window - hence the crappy quality. I also ran the footage through an stabilization filter in Motion 3 as it was extremely shaky. You can see the result of the stabilization programs work by looking at the outer edges of the footage . I was amazed at how well the footage was stabilized. You don't have to have the $1200 Motion programs to do stabilization - iStabilize also produced similar results and it's only around $70 or so. http://www.pixlock.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=33

Видео Magpie Pecks at Deer's Eyes! Bizarre footage of Mutualism in action. канала Jacana Productions