#orinoco

What’s one bird famous for its foul smell? Meet the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)! It’s the only bird known to have a form of digestion called foregut fermentation, in which bacteria help to break down the cell walls of leaves, its main source of food. This ability comes with a price, though. As bacteria is released, the Hoatzin bleches out methane. The burps have a manure-like odor that inspired this species nickname: “the stinkbird!”

The winner of the photojournalist story award shows the Amazon River dolphin, one of two freshwater dolphin species living in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Peschak documents the relationship between endangered Amazon River dolphins, also known as botos or pink river dolphins, and the people with whom they share their watery home. Traditional Amazonian beliefs hold that the dolphins can take on human form, and they are both revered and feared. Others see them as thieves who steal fish from nets and should be killed

Barbara Brändli, "Untitled," 1965,

Yanomami community of Mavaca, Upper Orinoco region, Amazonas State, Venezuela,