hoatzin

American  

[hoh-at-sin, waht-sin] / hoʊˈæt sɪn, ˈwɑt sɪn /

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.

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hoatzin British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of hoatzin

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

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.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023

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

From Science Magazine • Dec. 16, 2019

A day-old hoatzin chick has claws on its wing, which will be gone by the time it is full grown.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 16, 2019

This was a hoatzin, famously called the stinkbird because its herbivorous diet endows its droppings with a barnyard stench.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 2015

In such environment the hoatzin lives and thrives, and, thanks to its strong body odor, has existed from time immemorial in the face of terrific handicaps.

From Jungle Peace by Beebe, William