Stats

Lifespan: 15-30 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Flock
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: South America
Movement: Climbing
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Warning Colors
Status: Uncommon

About

The hoatzin is a prehistoric-looking tropical bird of South American swamps and riverbanks, instantly recognisable by its spiky mohawk crest and vivid blue facial skin. Its chicks are born with functional claws on their wing joints — a remnant trait that lets them clamber through branches before they can fly.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2.
hatchling
A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Opisthocomiformes
Family: Opisthocomidae
Genus: Opisthocomus
Species: Opisthocomus hoazin