The Story
I photographed this Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) at Reserva Natural Hato Berlín in Trinidad, Casanare, Colombia. The Hoatzin is a noisy bird, with hoarse calls that include groans, croaks, hisses and grunts. Hoatzin chicks have two claws on each wing, which they use to climb back to the nest after dropping into the water to escape predators. Hato Berlín is a civil-society nature reserve on the Casanare savanna, about 10 km from Trinidad, where capybaras, caimans, turtles, monkeys and savanna and marsh birds can be seen. IUCN lists the Hoatzin as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and a 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, at 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. In 2020 Hato Berlín opened an eco-lodge as part of the Safari Llanero, a project led by the Casanare Chamber of Commerce with Swiss cooperation to strengthen wildlife-watching tourism.
©2019 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