This Bird Has Seen Some Things—and the Photo Just Won an Award

South African photographer Ernest Porter said he was “delighted” to capture this scene of an oxpecker cleaning its bill against a rhino’s skin. The bird feeds on the insects that infest the rhinos’ skin, which is why the red-billed oxpecker’s name in Swahili, askari wa kifaru, means “the rhino’s guard.”

I’ll take Porter’s word for it, but I honestly can’t help but think that the oxpecker looks like it’s just plopped against the rhino, staring blankly into the void—so, basically…