The Story
I photographed this Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) in La Macarena, Meta, Colombia on July 4, 2017. It lives in swamps, riverside forest and mangroves of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. It is the only living member of its family, and its chicks have claws on two of their wing digits. Its digestive system ferments plant matter, a trait better known from cattle and other ruminant mammals. The nearby Serranía de la Macarena is an isolated mountain range about 120 kilometers long, separated from the Eastern Andes.
I took this with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/250 sec, f/13, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Hoatzin as Least Concern with a decreasing population, and the botanical garden just outside La Macarena invites visitors to take part in its restoration work.
©2018 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