Hoatzin

Description:

large awkward primitive bird that inhabits the Amazon region. The possess two stomachs and digest through fermentation like a cow. The young have claws on their wings allowing them to climb through the branches. Upon sighting a predator, they are said to drop to the water below, swim to safety and then clamber back to the nest. These were the first ones we saw. Later sightings included a nesting female and two chicks. The hoatzin's ancestry goes back to the eosine with the protohoatzin