hoatzin









hoatzin


hoatzin [hoh-at-sin, waht-sin] ExamplesWord Origin 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.

Also hoactzin. 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 Examples from the Web for hoatzin Historical Examples of hoatzin

  • The other tribe is represented by that strange bird the hoatzin of the Amazon.

    Birds in Flight

    W. P. Pycraft

  • But it is not nearly so long as in the hoatzin, and there is no terminal claw.

    Birds in Flight

    W. P. Pycraft

  • The flight of the hoatzin resembles that of an over-fed hen.

    Jungle Peace

    William Beebe

  • Such is the normal right destiny of a hoatzin chick, and the whee-og!

    Jungle Peace

    William Beebe

  • This was the real home of the birds, and this plant forms the background whenever the hoatzin comes to mind.

    Jungle Peace

    William Beebe

  • British Dictionary definitions for hoatzin hoatzin hoactzin 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 Origin for hoatzin C17: from American Spanish, from Nahuatl uatzin pheasant

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