The removal of ectoparasites is a common behavior found across animal taxa and is a determinant to avoid the negative effects of parasites’ presence. Eventually, the elimination of ectoparasites is associated with mutualistic interactions. Cleaner birds remove ectoparasites, providing benefits to its mutualistic host by reducing parasite burden while they obtain a protein food source. Here we report some evidence that giant cowbirds (Molothrus oryzivorus) may have an important role as a cleaner bird. We found 74 adult ticks inside the ventriculus of one male giant cowbird. The ticks belonged to three different species: Amblyomma dubitatum, A. sculptum and A. triste. We found that the sex-ratio of the consumed adult ticks was not different from 1:1. Although additional data are necessary, the large number of ticks found suggests that the giant cowbird may have developed a mutualistic association with large, social mammals such as capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), since this animal is an important host species for the three tick species found in the present study.

清除体外寄生虫是动物类群中常见的行为，并且是避免寄生虫存在的负面影响的决定因素。最终，消除外寄生物与相互影响。清洁的禽类可以清除外寄生物，从而在获得蛋白质食物来源时减少寄生虫负担，从而为其互惠宿主提供好处。在这里，我们报告一些证据，证明巨型牛鸟（Molothrus oryzivorus）作为清洁鸟可能具有重要作用。我们在一只雄性大牛bird的心室内发现74个成年s。壁虱属于三个不同的物种：羊膜草，草皮和三叶草。。我们发现被食用的成年consumed的性别比与1：1没有什么不同。尽管需要额外的数据，但发现的大量tick虫表明这只巨大的牛social可能与大型社交哺乳动物（如水豚）（Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris）形成了相互联系，因为该动物是发现的三种found虫的重要寄主物种在目前的研究中。