The Hoatzin were planned for the upcoming south american plains exhibit in the not yet built new birdhouse. The old one has just been demolished and there was a section in riverbanks magazine (which I might upload) detailing plans to keep hoatzin in the upcoming birdhouse. Unfortunately they did not fare well and died before they were ever exhibited.
At the beginning of the 20th centuary the New York Zoological Society had a Tropical Research Station in ( British ) Guyana and ordered them to catch Hoatzins for them. At least 2 birds were brougth into an aviary in 1922 in the Research Station and were there kept alive for at least 6 weeks It seemed that the young birds did well but I'm unaware if they ever were put on transport to New York, if they ever arrived there alive and if they were kept at New York for some time. These were however the first Hoatzins ever to be kept in captivity : Hoatzins at a Research Station in Guyana ( no copyrights anymore on this one )
Why are hoatzins so hard to keep in captivity? I understand that they only eat certain types of leaves, but so do other animals, like koalas. What makes them so different?
I dont think it is at all comparable. Koalas eat primarily eat leaves from the eucalyptus tree, a species which has been introduced and grows widely in temperate regions. The hoatzin is mainly folivorous (82% of its diet) and consumes the leaves of many riverine trees in its native habitat most of which would be challenging to obtain for zoos outside of South America (and this would be a steep task even for zoos within the region).
There was at least one hoatzin kept at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago when I was last there - 2019 - and it had been present on each of my annual visits for some time. Kept in a flooded river bank exhibit in their Amazon Rising section. No idea if they're still there and the website doesn't make mention of them. Had no idea they were so rare in captivity or I would've gotten a picture.
Given how regularly the collection has been visited by members of this forum over the last decade with no word of this being the case.....
You are welcome to doubt. It's of no benefit to me to lie. I simply want to provide as much information as I can recall given how many people apparently want to see these birds. What you choose to do with it is up to you. I saw the bird prior to July of 2019, as that is when I moved out of Chicago, and after August 2014, when I was no longer in university. The specific date of the following interaction is lost to me and I do not know when the bird first arrived or if it is still there. The day I visited would have been a weekday and less crowded; I avoid going to tourist sites on weekends. Below is my best recollection. I was in the Amazon Rising section of the aquarium - the section forms a sort of U shape. On one branch of the U, there's an electric eel exhibit, I will call this branch the exit. In the middle of the U bend, there's the green anaconda exhibit that the U surrounds, and opposite a large tank full of river fish. The other branch of the U, the entrance, is our focus. If you enter through this branch, there is an exhibit near the beginning, on your right, with a sort of riverbank setup. The exhibit is partially submerged, with a few fish and turtles in the tank portion, and partially terrestrial. The land portion is planted with various trees and flora, and there are some ducks and other birds signed. A branch hangs over the water, fairly close to the viewing glass. I was kneeling down to check out the water tank when I caught a flutter to my left out of the corner of my eye, then a little girl that had been standing nearby exclaimed, "What an ugly bird!" I looked up, then stood, my eyebrows rising with my body, "He's not ugly, he's a hoatzin!" "A Who-what's-in?" "A hoatzin! I've never seen one in person before." "Eh. It's got a weird head" The kid's not impressed, and she wanders off. I take a step toward the glass, and the bird cocks its head at me curiously. "You're not ugly at all, are you?" I ask the bird softly, raising my hand to the glass. The bird preens for a moment. Belatedly, it occurs to me to take a picture. I struggle with my purse, searching for my phone. Just as I frame the perfect shot and hit the button, my feathered friend takes flight. The briefest hint of a tail ends up in frame. The bird lands on the ground farther back in the exhibit and I try again, but his form is obscured by the undergrowth. He wanders into the brush and disappears, as if he were never there at all. Just then, a new voice startles me. "Did you get him?" a young woman wearing a keeper's uniform has appeared just behind and to my right. It's clear she's been watching me watching my birdie. "No," I sighed sadly, "Just missed him." "You're lucky to see him at all, he doesn't usually come out in the open like that when there're strangers around. Must be your hair." she gestures vaguely toward my head. "My... Oh!" Her meaning dawns on me as I glance down at my red-orange hair. I chuckle and reply, "Yeah, animals and little kids, they're fascinated by it. Seem to love the bright color." "He probably took you for another hoatzin" "Huh. Is it just him then? I saw some nest boxes in the exhibit, you're not breeding them?" "No, sadly it's just him here, no breeding. All the ones in zoos now are related. The Bronx Zoo had a clutch a while back, and they're all from that line. His old habitat is being redone for a new species, so he needed to be transferred. We're one of the few places that could take a hoatzin, so we got him, and his sibling went to <facility I can't remember and that I'd never heard of before. Not a place you'd immediately associate with rare amazon birds>." "Wow, I didn't realize they were so rare." "They're fairly common in the wild, but they're hard to keep in captivity. They need a pretty specialized diet. They're folivores, leaf eaters, so you need to be able to provide the right kind of plants for them. <something about Shedd's research and work in the amazon and plant sourcing>." "Thanks for all the information, I'm so lucky I got to see him. Just wish I'd gotten a picture now." "It's better that you didn't. I actually came over to ask you not to post any pictures on social media. We had to stop signing him and take him off exhibit for a while. Drew too many people, not all of them calm or quiet. Cameras flashing and people shoving to see. Stressed out the animals." "Man... some people suck." "Right? Anyway enjoy the rest of your visit, have a great day!" In at least one return trip following this initial sighting, I did see the bird again, farther back in the exhibit perched in a tree. If you do go to look for him, be respectful, and wear something roughly hoatzin crest colored on your head.
With all due respect, a crazy detailed and extremely convincing hallucination is far more likely in my case than mistaking a Red-fan Parrot for a Hoatzin. You'd have to be at least color bind, if not completely blind.
The enclosure you are describing is currently home to a Red-fan Parrot. There have been no Hoatzin in captivity since the last captive bird died at Bronx in the 90s. If you contact the aquarium about it, they will tell you it was a Red-fan Parrot.
How very convenient that after your claims are called into question, you come out with a massive essay which includes the additional claim that Shedd were actively covering up the fact they held the species and implicitly that this is why none of the many, many Zoochatters to have visited in the timescale you claim ever heard about it, let alone photographed it.
If a facility was covering up that they kept a species, why would they put it on public display? EDIT: And too many people wanting to see it, really? I'm sure the general public are so exited to see any ugly bird they've never heard of before.
When I saw this first posted yesterday I thought it was a genuine mistake, perhaps a Hawk-headed Parrot [the Red Fan Parrot] because it is very vaguely similar, or perhaps a Wattled Jacana due to the spurs on the wings which - if you only knew that Hoatzin chicks have claws - might be a cause for error. But no, it is just make-believe.
After reading this story, I'm going to check on my Colorado River toads tomorrow. Just to make sure that they're complete and unharmed.
Almost certainly not a Hoatzin at Shedd No, the enclosure being described is currently home to various ducks and a wattled jacana. The wattled jacana (Jacana jacana) is also a bird that is rare in captivity, but nowhere near the level of the Hoatzin. It is an odd looking bird and fits many of the descriptions of the story, including some of them from the conversation with the keeper. While it is probably a fabrication of half memories, it is also very likely the genuine mistake you mentioned because the Jacana inhabits that exact exhibit.
