Photos of wildlife duo seem like unlikely pair — but experts say they ‘belong together’

Wildlife officials in Colorado shared photos of what looks like an unlikely duo, but are actually a match made in tick-eating heaven.

The photos show a black and white magpie perched on one of the bighorn sheep’s horns as it dips its beak down to the sheep’s head and eats ticks from its coat. The sheep seems to welcome the bird’s presence and stands stock still while it gets groomed by its bird friend.

It’s actually a pretty symbiotic relationship, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said in the caption on Twitter. Officials invoked Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” to describe the union.

“Bighorn sheep & magpies are a match made in nature,” the caption states. “Magpies often eat ticks off of bighorn sheep — providing sustenance to the magpies & service to the bighorn sheep so — Oh baby, baby, they belong together.”

Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife joined in and shared a photo of a magpie perched on what looks like a whitetail deer’s rump.

“And here we thought our story was the special one,” Oregon officials replied. “Although we tend to hear Dolly’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ instead of the Christmas lady.”

“Dolly is everyone’s queen but Mariah Carey (and magpies) have our hearts,” Colorado officials said.

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