Screamers | Anhimidae

Hoenderkoeten | Screamers | Chajás

Three species in two genera occur in this guide, all in the lowlands at the foot of the Andes: the Horned Screamer in marshes, oxbow lakes and riverbanks of the Amazon basin, the Northern Screamer in the wet lowlands of northern Colombia and the Southern Screamer in the flooded savannas of eastern Bolivia. Screamers are related to ducks and geese, but with their small, fowl-like bill, bulky body and long, barely webbed toes they look more like a giant chicken. The leading edge of each wing carries two sharp spurs, used in fights over territory. Beneath the skin lies a layer of small air sacs, so that the body crackles when touched. The Horned Screamer also bears a long, thin horn-like projection on the forehead. They graze on aquatic plants and leaves, walk over floating vegetation and, despite their weight, sometimes soar high on thermals. The voice is a loud, trumpeting call that pairs give in duet and that carries for kilometres. The nest is a heap of plant material in or beside the water, and the young leave it soon after hatching.