The Story
This Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta) stood against the green in the Mocagua Indigenous community, a Ticuna resguardo beside Amacayacu National Natural Park in Amazonas, Colombia, showing the thin quill on its forehead that gives it its name. It is one of only three screamers, a small family of waterfowl, and the only species in its genus. It lives in swamps, marshes and wet meadows near rivers and lakes, feeds on water plants, and builds a floating nest platform out of vegetation. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/350 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Mocagua’s Ticuna community runs guided ecotourism next to Amacayacu National Natural Park, so visits like mine help support the people who protect this forest.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta) belongs to the family Anhimidae (Screamers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
