The Story
This Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) was at Reserva Natural Hato Berlín in Trinidad, Casanare, Colombia when I photographed it. 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. The Safari Llanero at Hato Berlín lets visitors watch and photograph wildlife in its habitat and share the culture and food of the people who live there.
©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