the swahili language word for oxpecker is "askari wa kifaru," which means "the rhino's guard" in english. a team of scientists from california state university and victoria university in australia wondered if oxpeckers really did help guard the rhinos. they found that the black rhinoceros listens for the noises the oxpecker makes. rhinoceros cannot see well but oxpeckers can. when an oxpeckers sees a human, it makes a noise. it does not make this noise at any other time. the rhinos hear this noise and then either look for the human or run away. the scientists performed an experiment: a human would slowly walk toward a rhino. rhinos without oxpeckers on their backs only noticed the human one out of five times, but rhinos with oxpeckers noticed the human every time and from much further away. the scientists wondered if bringing flocks of oxpeckers to groups of rhinoceros without them would help the rhinos avoid human hunters.