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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoatzin¹

C17: from American Spanish, from Nahuatl uatzin pheasant

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.

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

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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.

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

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

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