Both hoatzin genders look similar reaching about two feet in height and weighing a little less than two pounds. They are oddly shaped with their bulky body, long neck, floppy chest, and small head, making them slightly clumsy.

Hoatzins have dark and light brown feathers throughout their body, loose tails feathers, lightly feathered faces, blue face, and red eyes. Even though hoatzins have short legs, they are thick and strong.

Even though hoatzins have large wings, they rarely fly. The pectoral muscles of the hoatzins are poorly developed to make room for their large digestive system.

The chicks have claws on the tips of their wings similar to prehistoric birds, but the claws are lost when they grow up.

The hoatzin is a large, tropical bird found only in the swamps, jungles, and mangroves of South America.

Unlike most birds, hoatzins are strictly herbivores. Their diet consists mainly of leaves with some fruits and flowers; any eating of insects or other small critters is accidental. They tend to spend several hours a day hunting early in the morning or late in the evening, using their odd digestive system to break down the large amount of vegetation. Hoatzins are also known as stinkbirds due to the bacterial scent that comes off them and from the smelly plants.

Hoatzins live in colonies of 10-50 birds. Mating season differs from region to region but it’s usually in the rainy season. Males and females will build nests together over seasonally flooding waters. Female hoatzins will lay 2- 4 yellowish eggs with blue spots. Soon after hatching, the chicks can use their claw tips and large feet to climb around in the trees. The entire colony works on raising the young and will divert predators from the chicks in case of danger.

They are so hard to classify that they have their own genus known as Opisthocomus, which is Greek for “wearing long hair behind”, referring to the long feathers on its head. The most current genetic research revealed the hoatzins are the last surviving member of prehistoric birds that went extinct over 50 million years ago.

Hoatzins roost over water so they can drop in the river if threatened as flying away isn’t plausible.