Species names in all available languages
Language | Common name |
---|---|
Catalan | xahà banyut |
Croatian | rogati pastiraš |
Czech | kamiš růžkatý |
Danish | Anhima |
Dutch | Anioema |
English | Horned Screamer |
English (United States) | Horned Screamer |
French | Kamichi cornu |
French (France) | Kamichi cornu |
German | Hornwehrvogel |
Icelandic | Hornögld |
Japanese | ツノサケビドリ |
Norwegian | horngjeterfugl |
Polish | skrzydłoszpon rogaty |
Portuguese (Brazil) | anhuma |
Portuguese (Portugal) | Anhuma |
Russian | Рогатая паламедея |
Serbian | Rogata kreštalica |
Slovak | anhima rohatá |
Spanish | Chajá Añuma |
Spanish (Ecuador) | Gritador Unicornio (Canclón) |
Spanish (Mexico) | Chajá Unicornio |
Spanish (Paraguay) | Chajá real |
Spanish (Peru) | Gritador Unicornio (Camungo) |
Spanish (Spain) | Chajá añuma |
Spanish (Uruguay) | Chajá Cornudo |
Spanish (Venezuela) | Aruco |
Swedish | hornvärnfågel |
Turkish | Boynuzlu Figankazı |
Ukrainian | Паламедея |
Revision Notes
María A. García-Amado revised the account as part of a partnership with Unión Venezolana de Ornitólogos (UVO) and Natalia Piland reviewed. Peter Pyle contributed to the Plumages, Molts, and Structure page, and Guy Kirwan contributed to the Systematics page. August Davidson-Onsgard curated the media. JoAnn Hackos, Daphne R. Walmer, and Robin K. Murie copy-edited the draft.
Anhima cornuta (Linnaeus, 1766)
Definitions
- ANHIMA
- cornuta / cornutus
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
Horned Screamer Anhima cornuta Scientific name definitions
Version: 2.0 — Published March 22, 2024
Diet and Foraging
Introduction
Horned Screamers are herbivorous birds that feed on aquatic plants. They are most likely to be seen feeding in mid-morning while walking or wading (5).
Feeding
Food Capture and Consumption
Horned Screamers feed by two methods: grazing and digging, with grazing being the more common mode. During grazing, birds peck at leaves, vines, stems, and flowers with lateral movements of the head; swallowing the food items immediately. When digging, birds wade slowly in shallow water, moving their bills into the mud with rapid backward strokes of the head (5).
Diet
Major Food Items
Documented to feed on at least nine different plants, including Hydrangea spp., Eichornia crassipes, Polygonum hispidum, Paspalum dilatatum, and Artemisa absinthium, among others. Juveniles or younger birds will also eat insects (5).
Food Selection and Storage
Horned Screamers feed mainly on succulent parts of aquatic plants, including leaves, stems, roots, and flowers (5).
Nutrition and Energetics
The digestive tract of the Horned Screamer is specialized for plant digestion: the proventriculus and gizzard are both relatively large, with the proventriculus bigger than the gizzard. The proventriculus is conical, with tubular and gastric glands that aid in primary leaf digestion. The mechanical disintegration of the food takes place in the gizzard, which is thick and muscular, and covered by a gastric cuticle called the koilin layer. The small intestine is the largest portion of the digestive tract, which terminates at two small ceca followed by the large intestine (56).
The Horned Screamer's microbiota is similar to that reported for other herbivore vertebrates (57). The bacterial community of the digestive tract is composed of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes that are specialized in fermenting complex plant carbohydrates. Complete degradation of cellulose occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in the end-products acetate, propanoate, butanoate, and acetoacetate.
Metabolism and Temperature Regulation
Studies on the Horned Screamer's metabolism and temperature regulation are lacking. Given its physiology (see Nutrition and Energetics; 56, 57) and behavior (5), it is possible that the Horned Screamer has a basal metabolic rate lower than expected based on body mass, as has been reported in other fermenting herbivores (58); however, data are needed.
Drinking, Pellet-Casting, and Defecation
Naranjo (5) observed Horned Screamers drinking while wading in shallow water; it dipped its bill into the water and lifted its head, swallowing the drink immediately.