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Submitted: February 1, 2012
Image Size: 2.4 MB
Resolution: 4189×3184

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World of Birds 4 - Hoatzinby ~rieke-b

Traditional Art / Paintings / Animals

Watercolours with opaque white. I watched a documentary about Kaw, a great swampy conservation area in Guyana, where the Hoatzin lives, and was immediately fascinated by this bird.
The wing might look a little strange, but I checked it and they really look like there are some feathers missing (well, kind of...).
The leaves of the tree were really that big on a photo I looked at!

The Hoatzin, Opisthocomus hoazin, also known as the Hoactzin, Stinkbird, or Canje Pheasant, is a unique bird that lives in the tropical forests of South America. It's about as big as a pheasant and the only genus of its family. It doesn't seem to be closely related to any other bird family. Its digestive system (they are vegetarians) is unique amongst birds because it resembles to that of ruminants. Another remarkable thing is that its chicks posess claws on two of their wing digits. Since Hoatzins only nest above water, the chicks can drop into the water when there's danger and use their claws to crawl back up the tree and into the nest again. Nevertheless, many chicks get caught by predators...
Because of their huge crop, Hoatzins can't fly very well. Although they have a wide area of distribution and aren't considered endangered, they are vulnerable when it comes to habitat destruction. They simply can't move to other areas very well... The Hoatzin is also the national bird of Guyana.