Hoatzin

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Hoatzins are about 24 to 26 inches long, with red eyes and blue skin covering their faces. The outer feathers are mostly chestnut-brown, and the long tail is bronze-green and ends in a white band. The heads of the hoatzins are crowned with a crest of reddish-brown feathers, and the young are born without feathers but soon acquire a layer of black down. The pair of functional wing claws on the first and second finger tips of the wings are a characteristic of young Hoatzins that is lost as the bird grows into an adult.

As bacteria is released, the Hoatzin belches out methane. The burps have a manure-like odor that inspired this species' nickname: “the stinkbird!”

Hoatzins are sort of like flying cows. The hoatzin is the only bird in the world that uses these foregut compartments instead of a stomach to digest food. Its diet consists almost entirely of leaves, which pass into the bird's crop, where the process of bacterial fermentation gets fired up.

Like the nearly flightless dinosaur species, hoatzin birds can barely fly as an adult despite losing the ability of their unique wing-claw as they mature.

After their first year of life, the hoatzins start to reproduce. In their region, the hoatzin's breeding season coincides with the wet season. On branches that are 6 to 15 feet above the water's surface, hoatzins construct their nests. The incubation period is thirty-two days, and they typically lay two to three eggs. The young are raised by both sexes and usually stay in the nest for two to three weeks after hatching.

The hoatzin is a folivore, meaning it consumes the leaves (and to a lesser extent, the fruits and flowers) of the plants that grow in its marshy and riverine habitat. It clambers along the branches in search of food, using a leathery “bump” on the bottom of its crop to help balance its weight on the branches. Previously believed to eat only the leaves of arums and mangroves, the hoatzin is now known to consume the leaves of over 50 botanical species; one study conducted in Venezuela revealed that its diet consisted of 82% leaves, 10% flowers, and 8% fruit. Any eating of insects or other animal matter is purely opportunistic or accidental.

Although the adults are occasionally hunted and the eggs are occasionally collected for food by indigenous peoples in Brazil, it is uncommon to eat mature birds because the meat of hoatzin is said to taste awful. Amazonian deforestation threatens its preferred habitats of inland marshes and forests. Although the hoatzin is thought to still be very common over much of its range, habitat degradation is probably causing its numbers to decline. Guyana's national bird is the hoatzin.

Because water side territory can be scarce, young hoatzins often live in their parents territory for a couple of years after they hatch. During this time they act as helpers to their parents by assisting with the care of new broods and by helping to defend the territory. Because hoatzins have enlarged crops, they are clumsy flyers and it may take young hoatzins up to seventy days before they can fly at all. Because of this, young hoatzins have developed an unusual way of fleeing predators which include monkeys, hawks and snakes. When predators approach, young hoatzins can use their wing claws to climb on the limbs of trees and out of the predator's reach. If escape is not possible in the trees, the young birds will drop into the water below the nest and swim beneath the surface until they reach safety

Particularly during the breeding season, hoatzins are fiercely protective of their territory.  Hoatzins look for an area close to water so they can construct their nests there.  When a breeding pair establishes their territory, both the male and the female actively defend it because ideal spots can be limited. A breeding couple will use aggressive postures, loud noises, and ritual copulations to communicate their territorial boundaries to others. It is not often recognized that hoatzins are naturally hostile birds. Because they are shy, hoatzin prefer to hide in thickets to avoid conflict. However, if Hoatzin feel endangered or if their nesting area is being invaded, they may act aggressively toward other birds or animals.

These ancient birds thrived in gallery forests, freshwater marshes, swamps, and along the sides of rivers, lakes, and streams. They can be found all over the Amazon region in northern and central South America.

• Movement Pattern: Not a Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Decreasing

• Population: ugh

• Locomotion: Aerial

• Habitat: Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests; Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale; Mountain; Warm River; Cold River; Lukewarm River; Volcano; Warm Ghost Town; Cold Ghost Town; Ruined Skyscraper.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Bolivia; Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; French Guiana; Guyana; Peru; Suriname; Venezuela

  • Extant & Introduced (Resident): France

• Sawintir: 

  • Extant: ugh

The hoatzins were frequently overdosed on opiates after being shot to tranquilize them and fed while they were unconscious. Alternatively, survivors have to tame the hoatzin by stealing its egg. The chicks must be fed fresh leaves of any kind after these eggs hatch, and they can be found in many places.

Coming soon

Earth

• Egyptian Arabic: هواتزين

• Standard Arabic: هواتزين

• Bashkir: Гоацин-тауыҡ

• Bulgarian: Хоацин

• Brezhoneg: Hoatzin

• Català: Hoatzín

• Čeština: Hoacin chocholatý

• Cymraeg: Hoatsin

• Dansk: Hoatzin

• Deutsch: Hoatzin

• Ελληνικά: Οασίν

• English: Hoatzin

• Esperanto: Hoacino

• Español: Hoazín

• Eesti: Hoatsiin

• Euskara: Hoatzin

• Farsi: گندمرغ

• Suomi: Hoatsin

• Français: Hoazin huppé

• Galego: Hoatzín

• Hebrew: הואצין

• Hrvatski: Hoacin

• Magyar: Hoacin

• Ibanag: Hoatzin

• Iloko: Hoatsin

• Bahasa Indonesia: Hoatzin

• Italiano: Hoazin

• Nihon: ツメバケイ

• Kartveli: ჰოაცინი

• Kazakh: Гоацин

• Kannada: ಹೋಟ್ಜೆನ್

• Korean: 호아친

• Lietuvių: Hoacinas

• Malayalam: ഹോറ്റ്സിൻ

• Malti: Hoazin

• Nederlands: Hoatzin

• Norsk Nynorsk: Hoatzin

• Norsk: Hoatzin

• Dine Bizáád: Tsídiiłchxoní

• Polski: Hoacyn

• Punjabi: ہوٹزن

• Português: Jacu-cigano

• Runa Simi: Shanshu

• Romanian: Hoaţin

• Russian: Гоацин

• Slovenčina: Hoacinotvaré

• Slovenščina: Hoacin

• српски/srpski: Hoacin

• Svenska: Hoatzin

• Tagalog: Hoatsin

• Tamil: வெடிற்போத்து

• Tajik: Гандмурғ

• Ukrainian: Гоацин

• Uzbek: Goatsin

• Tiếng Việt: Gà móng hoang dã

• Wu Chinese: 麝雉

• Zhongguo: 麝雉

• Coming soon

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoatzin

• https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Opisthocomus_hoazin

• https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/hoatzin-opisthocomus-hoazin

• https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22684428/93028795

• https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Opisthocomus_hoazin/

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Hoatzin-1151493701