The Story
I photographed this Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) on the Orteguaza River at Puerto Arango, near Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. It nests in small colonies, laying two or three eggs in a stick nest in a tree over water in seasonally flooded forest. When a hawk attacks, the adults fly noisily about to distract it while the chicks hide. Chicks that are found drop into the water, swim away and later climb back to the nest using claws on their wings. Its numbers are probably decreasing because of habitat loss. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600, −1 EV. Florencia, the capital of Caquetá, is known as the golden gateway to the Colombian Amazon and was founded on December 25, 1902.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) belongs to the family Opisthocomidae (Hoatzin) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List