Which bird has the most in common with a cow? The most likely answer is the Hoatzin. This unusual bird eats plants and fruits and has an enlarged crop that works much like the gut of a cow.
Because of its unusual anatomy and habits, there has been a lot of argument about the proper taxonomic placement of this bird. Here, we will follow the classificaiton of the 6th Edition of Clements Checklist of Birds of the World and place it in the Gruiformes.
Classification:
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Opisthocomidae
Genus: Opisthocomus
Species: O. hoazin
Photos:
Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)
Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin). Sacha Lodge, Ecuador. "I’ve just returned from a fantastic holiday to South and Central America - took many, many photos (it will take a while to go through them all), but decided to start my Flickr collection with the Hoatzin. We encountered this bizarre looking bird several times, and nearly always in bad light, so was pleased this one came out OK."
Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)
"Es un ave primitiva que vive en la cuenca amazonica, son ruidoso y andan en grupos. se alimentan casi exclusivamente de hojas verdes." Read the rest of this entry »
