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Hoatzin seen in Amazon forest near Napo river in Ecuador
The Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) is a common bird in Amazon lowlands. Also known as 'stinky turkey' or 'stinkbird' because of its odour - a bit like cow manure. The reason for the smell - this is the only bird that is a foregut fermenter. It eats only leaves, which are broken down in a crop - an anatomical structure for storing food and for fermentation due to bacteria. It is also the size and position of the foregut in the Hoatzin that makes it a weak flyer.
The other really amazing thing (which I did not see) is that the young have hooks on their wings. When they are still too young to fly they will evade predators by jumping into the water and then pulling themselves out on branches with the hook - see this youtube video as an example (posted by Sarah McDonald youtube 2009)
The hoatzin is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South America. It is the only extant species in the genus "Opisthocomus" which is the only extant genus in the Opisthocomidae family under the order of Opisthocomiformes.
comments (6)
PS: I also added the video you posted to the species record:
http://www.jungledragon.com/specie/6230/videos Posted 10 years ago
The Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) is a really weird and awesome bird. Also known as the “reptile bird” or “stinkbird”, it is a Neotropical species that lives along rivers in the Amazon Basin. Hoatzins have some very un-birdlike features. Unlike most other birds, hoatzins are strict herbivores. They are also ruminators and digest their food through bacterial fermentation, like a cow or a sheep! Fermentation begins in the crop, which accelerates the difficult process of digesting fibrous plant matter. But, this means that they need to have a larger esophagus and crop compared to other birds. Their crop is so big that it has displaced flight muscles, thus reducing the bird’s flight abilities. But, no worries—they can still fly, albeit poorly; they can also hop around awkwardly. With more than 1,000 species of bacteria in their crop, hoatzins have hideously bad breath as they are constantly exhaling bacterial vapors, hence the moniker “stinkbird”. Plus, it takes them nearly two days to digest a meal, further enhancing their manure-like stench! Not only does their breath reek, but they also taste bad, which may be why they haven’t been overhunted.
Hoatzins build their nests in branches that hang over water. Oddly, hoatzin chicks have claws on their wings. When threatened, the chicks will jump out of the nest into the water below, swim to the bank, and then hide until the threat is gone. Then, they use their claws to climb up the tree and back into the nest. This is not “normal” chick behavior when compared to other species of birds. The claws are shed when the chick reaches a few months of age. Scientists have struggled to properly classify hoatzins because even though they are birds, they have characteristics that resemble reptiles (claws) and mammals (rumination). Truly, they are just another example of the many unique wonders in nature! {Spotted in Ecuador by JungleDragon user, Pducros} #JungleDragon Posted 6 years ago