Two Hoatzins Perched on a Bare Twig

Two hoatzins sit stacked on a small cluster of bare, forked branches, both turned to the right. Each has a spiky, straw-colored crest, a small head with a blue patch around the eye, and a long neck in warm tan. The wings are dark brown with pale streaks. Rust-red flight feathers show beneath them, and the long tails end in broad cream tips. Behind them the background is a soft blur of muted green, beige and grey-blue, with no hard edges, so the birds stand out clearly. The mood is quiet and calm, and the palette is gentle.

The hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) lives in the swampy forests and river margins of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. It eats mostly leaves, which it digests by fermentation in an enlarged crop, a rare habit among birds. This gives it a distinctive musty smell. Hoatzins are weak fliers and usually stay close to water, often perching on branches that overhang rivers and lakes. This image was recorded at Careiro, Amazonas, in Brazil. The landscape format and the open, softly blurred space around the birds suit widescreen monitors, and the lower half leaves room for desktop icons.