10 November 2015 ~ In the Trees

Listening to: Brigadier Jerry ~ Jamaica, Jamaica

This iguana is a bit better to see.

Meet the Hoatzin Bird. This bird is only found in the Amazon jungle and has no close relatives. The Hoatzin is one of the only primarily herbivorous birds on the globe. Like other familiar herbivores such as cows, the Hoatzin makes use of bacteria to help digest the plant matter it consumes.

They can barely fly, despite the fact, or because of the fact they are born with claws on their wings. This is to help prevent them from falling into the water as the clamber around lakeside vegetation.

The stork family posed for the photo. Storks are mute; bill-clattering is an important mode of stork communication at the nest.  

And the ultimate high-lite! A three-toed sloth!

The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. Nearly all of their time is spent in the trees: sleeping 10-15 hours per day, mating, even giving birth. Although clumsy on land, they are surprisingly good swimmers. They also have an extra neck vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees. That doesn't offer enough to lookout for eagles that will swoop in and carry the away.

It's really hard to take a photo from a moving boat. And I didn't have my larger lens to get the close-up of this Blue and Scarlet Macaw.