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hoatzin

[ hoh-at-sin, waht-sin ]

noun

  1. a blue-faced, crested bird, Opisthocomus hoazin, of the Amazon and Orinoco forests, having as a nestling a large, temporary claw on the second and third digits of the forelimb, for climbing among the tree branches.


hoatzin

/ həʊˈætsɪn /

noun

  1. a unique South American gallinaceous bird, Opisthocomus hoazin, with a brownish plumage, a very small crested head, and clawed wing digits in the young: family Opisthocomidae
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hoatzin1

1655–65; Nahuatl huāctzīn, huāhtzīn name for several hen-sized birds of the Valley of Mexico, apparently applied indiscriminately by early naturalists to similar New World birds
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hoatzin1

C17: from American Spanish, from Nahuatl uatzin pheasant
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Example Sentences

After another bird-filled stop, where we saw our first turkey-like hoatzin — whose ungainly size and clumsy movements made us all laugh — we were transferred into two smaller canoes.

Scientists were surprised to learn that some hoatzin still use their claws to climb and move around.

A hoatzin, a primitive bird like a living archaeopteryx, called in the distance as we baited hand-lines with — what else? — gristly chunks of local beef.

One animal they were eager to see was the hoatzin, which is a “punk-rock looking bird,” he said, because of its mohawk.

Chickens share the most DNA with the first bird ancestor, closely followed by hoatzin and emu.

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