Hoatzin
Opisthocomus hoazin (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
The hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), also called the Stinkbird or Canje pheasant, is a bird of the family Opisthocomidae in the order Opisthocomiformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 696 g, and our sources report values up to 793 g.
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Quick facts about the hoatzin
The hoatzin is a herbivore of riverine habitats with a perching lifestyle, is sedentary, and has a geographic range of 7,560,000 km². It lays 3 eggs per clutch, incubates them for 28 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 696 g – 793 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- riverinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the hoatzin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the hoatzin live?
Not recorded
What is the hoatzin?
The hoatzin ( WAHT-sin, -seen; also HO-tsin and hoh-AT-sin) (Opisthocomus hoazin) is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and Orinoco Basins in South America. It is the only extant species in the genus Opisthocomus which is the only extant genus in the family Opisthocomidae under the order Opisthocomiformes. Despite being the subject of intense debate by specialists, the taxonomic position of this family is still far from clear.
The hoatzin is notable for its chicks having primitive claws on two of their wing digits. It is unique among birds in possessing a digestive system that significantly supports the fermentation and the effective breakdown of plant matter, a trait more commonly known from herbivorous ungulate-ruminant mammals and some primates. This bird is also the national bird of Guyana, where the local name for this bird is Canje pheasant.
From the Wikipedia article “Hoatzin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hoatzin&oldid=1381589171), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the hoatzin sound like?
Is the hoatzin endangered?
The hoatzin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the hoatzin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderOpisthocomiformes
- familyOpisthocomidae
- genusOpisthocomus
- SpeciesOpisthocomus hoazin (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
Synonyms Opisthocomus sasa, Opithocomus hoazin, Phasianus cristatus, Phasianus hoazin
Other names and names in other languages (43)
- Canje pheasantEnglish
- StinkbirdEnglish
- هواتزينArabic
- Гоацин-тауыҡBashkir
- ХоацинBulgarian
- hoatzínCatalan
- hoacin chocholatýCzech
- SchopfhuhnGerman
- StinkvogelGerman
- ZigeunerhuhnGerman
- ΟασίνGreek
- hoacinoEsperanto
- HoazínSpanish
- ChenchenaSpanish
- Pava HediondaSpanish
- ShanshoSpanish
- hoatsiinEstonian
- گندمرغPersian
- hoatsinFinnish
- hoatsin (haisukäki)Finnish
- Hoazin huppéFrench
- הואציןHebrew
- HoazinItalian
- ツメバケイJapanese
- ჰოაცინიGeorgian
- ಹೋಟ್ಜೆನ್Kannada
- 호아친Korean
- hoacinasLithuanian
- ഹോറ്റ്സിൻMalayalam
- hoacynPolish
- ہوٹزنWestern Panjabi
- ciganaPortuguese
- Jacu-ciganoPortuguese
- ShanshuQuechua
- ГоацинRussian
- HoacinotvaréSlovak
- hoacin chochlatýSlovak
- HoacinSerbian
- வெடிற்போத்துTamil
- ГандмурғTajik
- GoatsinUzbek
- Gà móng hoang dãVietnamese
- 麝雉Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the hoatzin
Other species in the same class Aves.
Common ostrich
Struthio camelus
House sparrow
Passer domesticus
Common raven
Corvus corax
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Eurasian magpie
Pica pica
Common hoopoe
Upupa epops
CompareHoatzin vs Common ostrichHoatzin vs House sparrowHoatzin vs Common ravenHoatzin vs Mallard
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the hoatzin?
The hoatzin is a bird in the family Opisthocomidae and the order Opisthocomiformes. It is also called the Stinkbird or Canje pheasant.
How heavy is a hoatzin?
An adult Hoatzin weighs 696 g, and our sources report values up to 793 g. This places it in the small size class.
What does the hoatzin eat?
The hoatzin is a herbivore.
What habitat does the hoatzin live in?
The hoatzin lives in riverine habitats, where it has a perching lifestyle. It is sedentary.
Is the hoatzin endangered?
No. The hoatzin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How many eggs does the hoatzin lay?
The hoatzin lays 3 eggs per clutch, and the eggs are incubated for 28 days.
Who named the hoatzin?
The hoatzin was named Opisthocomus hoazin by (P. L. S. Müller, 1776).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hoatzin
“Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hoatzin.
@misc{hoatzin_2026,
title = {Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hoatzin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}