CRAZY BIRD!!
We’re meeting a bird that is a folivore today! These ancient birds are crazy looking, but they sure are cool! Let’s meet the hoatzin!
Hoatzin Fun Facts:
- Hoatzin birds live in South America in swamps, marshes and mangroves.
- They are folivores and eats leaves and flowers.
- Hoatzin can grow up to 26″ long and weigh around 1 3/4 lbs.
- They are listed as least concern by the IUCN.
- They are the last member of an extant group of birds from 64 million years ago.
- Hoatzin have large crests of feathers on top of their heads.
- Hoatzin have large crops to help them digest the leaves they consume. The crops are so big they take away room for flight muscles.
- They are not strong fliers.
- These vocal birds use a variety of calls to communicate with each other, including warning calls for predators.
- Hoatzin live in small colonies.
- Hoatzin chicks have claws on the end of two of their digits on their wings. Chicks use these to help them climb out of water they may go into to avoid predators.
- They are excellent swimmers.
Hoatzin are amazing birds. These tropical birds definitely look like dinosaurs to us! We’ll keep our distance though, no one wants to get too close to a bird’s who is called the stinkbird! Hold your trunk Ellie!
The Adventures of Ellie and Edmond 
The skunk of the bird world. What an interesting animal. I didn’t even know they existed. Also interesting that they are better swimmers than flyers. The animal world is amazing.