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

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

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

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

The young hoatzin stood erect for an instant, and then both wings of the little bird were stretched straight back, not folded, bird-wise, but dangling loosely and reaching well beyond the body.

From Jungle Peace by Beebe, William