Birds · Anseriformes · Anhimidae

Horned Screamer

Anhima cornuta

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The horned screamer, known in Spanish as camungo or aruco, is a large black bird of the South American tropical wetlands, unmistakable for the long, slender horny quill that grows forward from its forehead, with no function known for certain. Like the southern screamer it has spurs on its wings and air beneath its skin. It feeds on aquatic plants and gives a deep, resonant call that can be heard more than three kilometres away.

Weight

3.1 kg – 3.5 kg

Size

84 cm – 95 cm

Lifespan

15 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

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Fun facts

anatomíaIt has a bony spur on each wing for territorial fights, and small pockets of air beneath its skin that crackle to the touch.
reproducciónIt can live several decades and usually pairs for life, defending its stretch of wetland against other pairs of its own kind.
A horn of keratin up to fifteen centimetres long grows from its forehead, unique among all the birds in the world: it is not attached to the skull, it grows continuously, breaks off and grows back, and nobody knows for certain what it is for.
Its deep, two-syllable call carries several kilometres across the Amazonian wetlands and is one of the characteristic sounds of the Orinoco swamps.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Swamps, lagoons, marshes and flooded forest of Amazonia and the Orinoco
Sexual maturity: 3 years
Gestation / incubation: 44 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 4 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhima_cornuta