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PHOTO BY Crijnfotin About the picture:
Hoatzins are common in the Cuyabeno reserve in Ecuador. I have seen them every day during my seven day stay at this place. The photo was taken from a canoe. Using a canoe instead of a boat with a motor gives you the advantage to get close.
About the Hoatzin
The Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), also known as the Hoactzin, Stinkbird, or Canje "Pheasant", is an unusual species of tropical bird found in swamps, riverine forest and mangrove of the Amazon and the Orinoco delta in South America. It is the only member of the genus Opisthocomus which in turn is the only extant genus in the family Opisthocomidae. The taxonomic position of this family has been greatly debated, and is still far from clear.
The Hoatzin is pheasant-sized, with a total length of 65 cm, and has a long neck and small head. It has an unfeathered blue face with maroon eyes, and its head is topped by a spiky, rufous crest. The long sooty-brown tail is broadly tipped buff. The upperparts are dark sooty-brown edged buff on the wing coverts, and streaked buff on the mantle and nape.
This is a noisy species, with a variety of hoarse calls, including groans, croaks, hissing and grunts.
The alternative name of "stinkbird" is derived from the bird's manure-like odour, caused by their digestive system.
The Hoatzin eats the leaves and to a lesser degree fruits and flowers of the plants which grow in the marshy and riverine habitats where it lives. One of this species' many peculiarities is that it has a digestive system unique amongst birds. Hoatzins use bacterial fermentation in the front part of the gut to break down the vegetable material they consume, much like cattle and other ruminants.Unlike ruminants, however, which possess the rumen in the Hoatzin this is the function of the crop (an enlargement of the esophagus). The crop of the Hoatzin is so large as to displace the flight muscles and keel of the sternum, much to the detriment of their flight capacity. Because of aromatic compounds in the leaves they consume and the bacterial fermentation, the bird has a disagreeable, manure-like odor and is only hunted for food in times of dire need.
Hoatzins are seasonal breeders, breeding during the rainy season. Hoatzins are gregarious and nest in small colonies, laying 2-3 eggs in a stick nest in a tree hanging over water in seasonally flooded forests. The chick, which is fed on regurgitated fermented food, has another odd feature; it has two claws on each wing. When disturbed, the chicks drop into the water to escape predation, then use their clawed wings to climb back to the safety of the nest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoatzin
» 3 Comments
1Comment
at Wednesday, 10 February 2010 11:32
what an incredibly unusual bird! Great capture, Crijnfoto!
and thank you for all the fascinating info, Michel :-))))
2Comment
at Wednesday, 10 February 2010 12:29
that was such an interesting read! thank you Michel!!
Great photie Crijnfoto! ;-)
3Comment
at Thursday, 11 February 2010 10:40
Very Unsual bird...great shot of it!
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