Hoatzins ( Opisthocomus hoazin) live in the Orinoco Basin and the Amazon jungle, in Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil.
They are weird birds. Among other things, when they are young they have well-developed claws they use to climb up trees. They lose those claws when they grow up and learn to fly.
David Attenborough says in his wonderful The Life of Birds perhaps they show us a bit how Archaeopterix were, how they used their claws.
The DNA of hoatzins have made biologists scratch their head for a long time. They have classified the animal into its own family and order.
I have seen them but never knew their name in Spanish or English! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSurprising animal, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThere are so many different birds in Venezuela.
In Venezuela my house was in a big city but just next to the mountain. I would wake up everyday by the song of birds...all year around. In the rainy season it was usually the Guacharacas (chachalacas)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortalis_ruficauda
For me they sounded like some group of drunk women gossiping all together on a tree
Here one type:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZuKutb3-jQ&feature=related
When together it is really an incredible noise.
Have you heard howler monkies? I love to listen to a troop of them sing in the jungle. One old monkey 'calls' and the others repeat him exactly.Like a choir.
ReplyDelete