The abandoned village of Houtouwan on Shengshan Island, China

The abandoned village of Houtouwan on Shengshan Island, China

We’re still waiting for the poet who dares to write an ode to the hoatzin, a bird that earns its other common name: stinkbird. Native to the Amazon mangrove swamps and the Orinoco Delta, the hoatzin has a digestive system more like a cow’s than a bird’s. It digests the leaves it eats with a gut full of enzymes that ferment the food, and that fermentation gives off an unpleasant odor. Surely there’s some inspiration there. Where’s Ogden Nash when you need him?