Speaker #0Hello everyone, welcome back to Relax With Animal Facts. I am Steff Wolf and today I am going to be learning with you about our furry, scaly, or possibly even slimy friends. And in today's case, it is definitely going to be a f***. feathery friend of ours because we are covering the oh so wonderful Huatzen. This of course is a very special listener episode dedicated to Dr. Love who wrote in suggesting this creature and this episode is also dedicated to all of you on Patreon who decided to cast their votes for the next episode. This episode was voted for by you guys on Patreon, so thank you so much. And Dr. Love, in sending in this request, also left me a very cool message. Dr. Love wrote, I think you should look at the Watson bird. I saw one in the wild in a lagoon in Ecuador, and it was quite The strange, prehistoric appearing creature. I think that you'll enjoy learning about this animal's strange nature. Thank you for everything you do. I listen to an episode every night and it is very relaxing for me. So thank you Dr. Love for the animal suggestion and for this very nice message. I hope you enjoy your very own episode. If there is an animal that you really would like to learn about and you would like to have your very own episode, you can send in your animal requests to relaxwithanimalfacts.com by typing in that URL and submitting the animal request form. It can also be on those little three dashes at the top right. If you are on your iPhone. If you would like to support me, Steph Wolf, in my mission to help you relax with animal facts and get a bunch of bonus content in the meantime, you can go to patreon.com slash relaxwithanimalfacts. I'll also leave something in the description that you can just click on. We are talking about extended versions, intro-free versions of regular episodes just like this one, and bonus episodes that are only available there. So thank you for your support, and I'll see you soon. One last quick shout out to George Vlad for the amazing ambiances he has provided us with. His audio work is linked in the description. in the description and you should check him out. And now, the moment that we have all been waiting for, it is time to wind down. If this is your first ever episode, I would like to welcome you to the Animal Podcast family. And if you are a returning listener, welcome back. These adventures just wouldn't. be the same without you. And you also know that before we hop right into our adventure, I have three primary exhortations for you. My first exhortation to you is to put on a pair of shoes you don't mind getting a bit wet. We are certainly going to be needing those for where we are going today. My second exhortation to you is arguably the most important. It is to realize where you carry tension and to do your best to let it go. This is more of a non-doing than it is a doing. Here on our show, as many of you long-term listeners know, we love to become jello. I chose Jello as our relaxation mascot so many years ago because it is simply the perfect image. It is a solid but just barely. It has just enough tension to hold itself together and that is what we want. And so you can choose a color or flavor of Jell-O to become. Today I feel like becoming purple Jell-O. I think that would be a grape flavor. and we are going to be doing our best Oscar award-winning impressions of that jello. I am talking about performances that would put all of our best actors and actresses out of work. How we are going to do that is by relaxing all of the parts of our bodies that carry tension. It might be in your neck, in your shoulders, in Europe. arms. If you are listening to this episode with somebody else, you might notice that you carry tension in completely different areas, and that is okay. It is also quite possible that you don't know where you carry tension, which is totally okay too. If that is you, I have an exercise that you can try. Some call this progressive muscle relaxation. I call it becoming jello. In your mind, you can start from the very tippy top of your head and work your way down bit by bit, relaxing as you go. You are going to continue on and on until you reach the very tippy toes of your feet. And so it might look like this. I'm going to relax the muscles around my ears, my forehead, my eyebrows, all of my jaw muscles that I might be clenching, then my shoulders and my neck, and on and on. We are going to do this until you become your jello of choice. and when you are ready We are going to go straight into my third exhortation. It is to give your mind permission to wander and journey with me as we go into the Amazon basin where the Watson resides. The Amazon has to be among the world's most vocal environments. I don't want to say noisy because that has a general negative connotation. It seems to me that if each of the world's environments or habitats had their very own orchestras, the Amazon basin would have one of the busiest. Or maybe I mean one with a ton of members. The amount of members we have in the vocal section, the wind section, percussion, is absolutely amazing. And I love places like this. Some say silence is golden. Well, I disagree. At least when it comes to the performances of our natural world. But we are here for more than just soundscapes. We are here for the Watson. I realized when I was doing the research for this episode that we have covered a lot of birds recently, which is really cool. The way animal suggestions work for the show is that they are chosen completely randomly. So regardless of when you sent in your animal request, it might come later or sooner. But what is a more important realization is that despite us covering many birds, each time they seem so radically different. They are unique to a point that it feels like there's barely any overlap. Although, of course. there is, but let's learn more about what makes the Huatsin special. The first thing is their name. It took me quite a while to find an authoritative pronunciation guide for this creature. Initially, I wanted to say Hoatsin. Most sources will say Huatsin with that aspirated H at the beginning. But then some say an alternative pronunciation is just Watson, as if the H is silent. I have chosen the Watson pronunciation and I sincerely hope that it is as correct as can be. But their common name comes from the Nahuatl language, which I hope I am also pronouncing correctly. But this was the language spoken by the Aztecs and still to this modern day spoken in parts of Mexico. It was in fact Spanish that granted this word entry into our European languages. Their scientific name, on the other hand, is Opisthochemus Watson. Opisthochemus, which, wow, try to say that ten times fast, essentially means having hair behind or having hair at the back. The Watson part of their scientific name is just their common name. And so their scientific name describes the whole. with the hair or crest at the back. But the amazingly unique part of this creature is that they are the only living species that is in that genus, Opis thocomis. They also happen to be the only living species in the family Opis thocomidae, which is found in South America. So they are one of one, which is pretty amazing. The reason why we specify that this creature is the only living member of this genus or species is because there are other animals that are no longer living or extinct that are also part of it. In fact, our feathery friend has a few relatives or cousins that are extinct, Huatsinavis lacustris, Huatsinoides magdalenae, and a few others. Some lived in Brazil, some in Colombia, some even in Africa and France, which is pretty amazing. But our Huatsin friend today is still one of one as far as living species are concerned. The Huatsin inhabits swamps, mangroves, riparian forests in both the Orinoco and Amazon basins. They really do seem to thrive in places with a lot of moisture. They will live from between 15 to 30 years of age and grow to be 65 centimeters or 26 inches in length. They will only weigh about 700 to 900 grams, which makes sense as this is a bird with hollow bones. Even though they look a bit bigger than an average bird you might see, of course this depends on where you live, but they have those hollow bones in order to be able to fly. Regardless of their size, they're big. bone densities will be quite low. They are about the size of a pheasant. They are equipped with a small head and a long neck. They have a blue face that isn't crowded with all the feathers like the rest of their body, and they have a brownish maroon tint to their eyes. And just above their oh so wonderful face is a spiky crest on top of their head. I think it is fair to say that this is a unique looking bird. They don't quite look like many other things we have seen on our adventures together. If you are unsure, you could always give it a quick internet search when you have the time. But you can take my word for it when I describe them as something of an oddball in the avian community, and for a few reasons. Huatsins have some characteristics that you really wouldn't expect. One article states that Huatsins never actually got the message that they aren't dinosaurs anymore. According to one article, the... Watson never got the message that they are not dinosaurs anymore. And the reason this article says that is because while they have claws in the regular places you would expect, the baby Watsons also have claws that sprout from their wings. That is an incredibly unique characteristic for a modern bird. to have, but some say that there are reasons they still have these. As we look over the water in the Amazon basin, we might notice that Huatzins build their nests on top of tree branches that extend out and over these bodies of water. Huatzins have a few natural predators, like monkeys or snakes. And in this setup, where they are in a nest directly above the water, if they see some danger approaching from a snake or a monkey, they can hop right out of their nests into these bodies of water, use their wings as flippers to swim their way to the shore, and then use those claws on their wings to hoist themselves up the... the trees and back into their nests once more, which is super cool. So although it seems like they never got the update to stop being pterodactyls, they still have a great use for those claws on their wings. But as I mentioned before, these wing claws are only really visible on the chicks These disappear by the time they mature, at which point they can just look like totally normal birds. And how about this? Huatzins are the only birds in the entire world, at least that we know of, that eat nothing except for leaves. This is simply amazing because it means many things, comparing to other things. very common staples of bird diets like seeds and fruits, leaves aren't as packed with nutrition and also have the disadvantage of being harder to digest. What this means is that the Watson will have to have a digestive system that is fairly different from many other birds, and that is precisely what they have, their digestive systems are often compared to bovine ones. So is this a cow bird or a bird cow of some kind? The Watson has a multi-chambered digestive tract filled with lots of smaller stomachs. The leaves can sit in one for a while, get digested by friendly bacteria, and get... passed around. So this is the process through which the leaves go. The leaves will first go into their crop. Now, in most birds, the crop is something like a temporary food storage pouch, but not in the Huatsin. For them, the crop is transformed into a huge fermentation chamber. It is here in the crop of the Huatsin that the microbes break down the leaves through foregut fermentation. It is pretty similar to what we see in a cow's rumen. The food spends a long time fermenting, continuing down the digestive tract. This is incredibly important to digest the material that is not all that digestible, certainly not by many other birds that are not the huatzin. And so the leaves will go to their crop, and then to the esophagus or lower crop, then to the stomach, the gizzard, and finally to the intestines. A long process, but a necessary process. But this is where an important aspect of the Huatsin comes in. It is their notoriety for being stinky. They are nicknamed the stink bird, and that is because of what happens in their special crop. While this fermentation happens, whereby these friendly bacteria break down the leaves, they release gas. what we know as methane. The bird will then belch out, basically just burping, producing this aura of scent that is not really that pleasant. A bird that burps, maybe we have now seen it all. That is seriously so awesome, and I think it is fair to ask, where did these creatures come from? Given their uniqueness, you can be sure that many researchers have tried to tackle just what is going on with this bird. And I think it is safe to say that the research is still ongoing, but through many genomic or Genetic studies, should I say, we know that Huatsins are most closely related to cranes and plovers. That connection, perhaps, is not too obvious, which is really cool. And let's talk about their vocalizations. In addition to being able to burp, they are loud birds in their own right. Their most common call is a huffing sound that some articles describe as a mixture of a gorilla and wood saw sound, which to me is not easy to imagine. I imagine maybe in your spare time searching up this creature's call and hearing it would be a fun experiment. I'm not going to play it on the show because I imagine it not to be true. too relaxing. But although this is their most common call, which sounds gritty and noisy, they can also hiss, grunt, croak, and groan, and this will really depend on the context in which they are in. One of the ways in which Huatzins will use their vocal range is in defending themselves from predation when they are threatened. by a predator, they will flap their wings around, making all kinds of noises in order to confuse or maybe overwhelm their predators. I imagine this is also a behavior done by parents in order to steer predation away from their nests and towards them. They can fly, after all. With a very important caveat. They can't fly quite as well as many other birds. Having that very complex digestive system that they have may help them digest leaves, but it also makes them have a bit more weight than they would otherwise. Just their crops, which, remember, acts as a fermentation chamber for this creature, can be about 17% of their total body weight. Their ability to fly might be compared to that of a chicken. They can flap their wings loudly and quite violently, but they won't reach the aerial sophistication and the ease of flying that many other birds have, like birds of prey or others like the wandering albatross. The Watson must be a favorite among the scientific community because they have helped researchers find out a lot. One of the things that scientists discovered about these creatures is that their microbiomes that are in their special crops are seriously unique. One study in particular identified 580 bacterial phylotypes in adult crops, again those fermentation chambers. About 94% of those bacterial phylotypes of those 580 weren't even classifiable as known species at that time. I just want to make sure that I'm time. precise in how I phrase that because this is not a field I am too familiar with, but they said that 94% weren't classifiable as known species level types at the time. I think it is safe to say that the digestive system of this creature is unique in many ways, and just like us, their micro- biomes change as they grow. Baby, juvenile, and adult Watsons can have fairly different crop microbiome communities, or microbial communities, should I say. Isn't that amazing? Well, this creature can certainly be researched more, because we only have two things left to really dive in on, which is their genetic lineage, and how they are doing in terms of population sizes. Those are the things we are going to learn on the Patreon. So if you are interested in trekking further into this Amazonian basin, you can become a patron and join us there. And now, let us move to the review portion of the show. This is where I read a review from Apple Podcasts from one of you very special listeners, and then I read a couple or just one comment on Spotify. Today we are reading two comments, though we usually read just one. Why? I don't know. I just really like your comments and felt like reading two. But first, we are going to go to Owen who left a great review on Apple Podcasts and Owen wrote, This is my favorite show. It is an amazing relaxing technique and Steph Wolf has the best voice for the topic of his podcast. Thank you Owen. Owen continues, It really amazes me how he researches 20 to 30 minutes of content it. every week. I use this podcast every night to fall asleep and it works extremely well. Keep up the good work, Steph. Great regards, Owen. Thank you so much for that wonderful review. I'm so glad that the show has made a regular part of your routine. I look forward to these adventures with you every single week. And I'm glad that Owen and you listening are a part of it. Both of our comments on Spotify are actually on the Secretary Bird episode, the most recent one. And Zoe kicks it off by saying, Thank you for the show. It helps me go to sleep at night. The dad jokes are awesome. You could teach my dad. I listen to this podcast every night and my mom is now, my eyes, an angel for introducing me to this. Also, can you do more dog episodes? Thank you Zoe for your wonderful comment. I'm so glad that your mom introduced you to our animal podcast family. and as far as dog episodes are concerned. We have so many to learn about, and I have an inbox full of corgis and pugs and golden retrievers. They are all so different that I think each deserves their very own episode. We already did the dachshund, or the dachshund, after all. I think it is only fair we cover all of them in the future. On the very same episode, Ruben left a comment saying, The thing that makes a bird of prey a bird of prey is a hooked beak. If you look at a heron, it doesn't have a hooked beak. But owls and eagles and other things do. And does a seriemma not hunt on the ground too? What a fantastic... comment. I always tell you guys, I am not an animal expert. I really am going on these adventures with you. As I have always said, I am here to learn with you, and Ruben is here to provide some clarification about a difficult part of the show last time. I was having some trouble figuring out what distinguishes a bird of prey from other birds that are not birds of prey, but Ruben to the rescue. Also, the serrima is an animal that we have to cover in the future. Thank you, Ruben, and thank you to all of you who continue to leave comments on Spotify and to leave reviews on Apple Podcasts. If you are listening on either of those platforms, there is something that you can do quickly and easily to both help support me and the show and to help grow our animal podcast family, which is to click subscribe or follow, leaving a review, a rating, all of those things really do help. And I thank you so much for doing so. If you would like extended versions of episodes, intro-free episodes, exclusive episodes you can't listen to here or anywhere else, you can go to patreon.com slash relaxwithanimalfacts. I also have a little clickable link in the description so you can follow that and I will see you there. To request an animal. you can go to relaxwithanimalfacts.com and then to the animal request section. To reach out to me, Steph Wolf, for any other reason, you can send me an email at relaxwithanimalfacts at gmail.com. A huge shout out to George Vlad for his very important audio work. It is his work that allows us to enter these places with the realness it deserves. His work is linked in the description and I encourage you to check him out. What an amazing animal we have learned about today. The Watson, possibly one of the most unique birds we have ever learned about on this show, which is so cool. Our natural world can be filled with so many surprises, and that is one of the things that makes our animals oh so wonderful. I hope you have enjoyed this adventure as much as I have, and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode with the next animal. Take care.
