Horned Screamer
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| Horned Screamer | ||||||||||||||
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| Anhima cornuta (Linnaeus, 1766) |
The Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta) is a member of a small family of birds, the Anhimidae, which occur only in tropical South America. There are three screamer species, the other two being the Crested Screamer and the Black-necked Screamer in the genus Chauna.
They are related to the ducks, geese and swans, which are in the family Anatidae, but have bills looking more like those of game birds.
The Horned Screamer is found from Colombia and Venezuela south to Brazil and eastern Bolivia. It is now extinct in Trinidad.
This is a massive 84-94 cm long, 3.1 kg weight bird, with a small chicken-like bill. The upperparts, head and breast are black, with white speckles on the crown, throat and wing coverts. There is a long quill projecting forward from the crown, which gives this species its name. The belly and under wing coverts are white. It has two sharp spurs on its wings, and feet which are only partially webbed.
The Horned Screamer lives in well-vegetated marshes and feeds on water plants. Its nest is large pile of floating vegetation anchored in shallow water. Three olive-brown eggs are laid, and the young, like those of most Anseriformes, can run as soon as they are hatched.
The Horned Screamer's call, as its name suggests, is a very loud U-WHO or honking YOIK-YOK.
Reference
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5