Monday, October 08, 2007

Hoatzin in action


Surely one of the strangest birds in the world, the Hoatzin has four stomachs like a cow, has no keel on its breastbone, barks like a wheezy old man and can barely walk through the branches without falling off – using its wings for balance. The young have claws on their wings! The cliché is it's a modern Archeopteryx, but I think the A bird was probably more of a dashing ground runner. But anything would appear dashing alongside an Hoatzin... (digiscope video at Lago Lindo, Peru)

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