Funky Feathers: 10 Bizarre Birds

A bird with body odor? The hoatzin, a primitive Amazonian species, purportedly smells like cow dung due to its vegetation-based diet; some people claim that the scent is actually more pleasant. They are the only species of bird that boasts a ruminant digestive system, like a cow’s. And like cows, they spend a lot of time just lying around and digesting. Particularly dinosaurian in aspect, the nestlings of the species even have claws on their wings, which they can use to climb trees. Though they’re clumsy fliers, the birds can launch themselves into the water and swim like the dickens if threatened by aerial or arboreal predators.

The shoebill stork (Balaeniceps rex) is the Elephant Man of the otherwise sleek and angular ciconiforms--the storks, herons, flamingos, and spoonbills. With a massive, clunky beak, it stalks the swamps of northeastern Africa for its preferred prey, the primitive lungfish. Though it might favor the texture of the lungfish, coated in slippery mucus, the shoebill isn’t averse to a little extra crunch. It also inhales turtles and baby crocodiles.

A far cry from its pedestrian cousin, the rock dove (Columbia livia)—commonly known as the flying rat—the Victoria crowned pigeon (Goura victoria) of New Guinea is lavishly attired in rich cerulean plumage and, as its name implies, boasts a lacy crest of feathers on its head. At roughly the size of a chicken, they are the largest living pigeon species.

Even larger was the extinct dodo (Raphus cucullatus), a close relative of the pigeon family. These flightless birds, driven to extinction by humans and their domesticated companions, were victims of circumstance. Though proverbially considered unintelligent, they were perfectly adapted to the conditions of their native Mauritius and were simply unequipped to deal with the threat posed by the arrival of Portugese sailors in 1507. Though no complete specimen exists today, the birds were recorded at weights of up to 50 pounds.

Of the 30 or so species of cormorant, only the Galapagos cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi) is flightless. Classified as vulnerable by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), these raggedy-winged piscivores are only found on two of the Galapagos islands. Flightlessness often develops in birds that are adapted to insular island environments free of natural predators. However, the species is an easy mark for the cats and dogs introduced to the islands by humans. Not exactly a sitting duck, but close...

Speaking of ducks…the four species of shoveler resemble their more-recognizable relatives, such as the mallard and the wood duck, until you get to the beak. Instead of a standard-issue duck bill, these odd birds sport flattened mandibles that resemble, well, shovels. They use them to strain small organisms from the marshes that they inhabit. Duck hunters call them "neighbor’s mallards" because the taste of their flesh is somewhat unpleasant. What better way to serve up a little petty revenge to an annoying neighbor than "gifting" them with rancid-tasting duck meat?

The 12 species of frogmouth are among the oddest of the avians. Related to the swallows and swifts, which are renowned for their acrobatic pursuit of flying insects, the endomorphic frogmouths aren’t nearly so aerodynamic. They prefer to sit and wait for insects and other small animals to pass by. The frogmouths resemble frowzy, gigantic versions of their petite relatives. They are the closest relatives of the owls, for which they are often mistaken.

At least in terms of their coiffures, some species of curassow are stuck in the ’80s. If you thought permed feathers weren’t possible, think again. The jaunty crests of these tropical American birds look as if they’ve been chemically treated. Their feelings on stirrup pants and shoulder pads have not yet been discerned.

Though most hornbills are arboreal, the southern ground hornbill prefers to stalk the plains of sub-Saharan Africa for small animals. It has the red, swollen face of an acid peel recipient, but its scarlet dermis is all natural. How’s that for bare-faced beauty?

The sprightly scarlet iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea) of Hawaii flits through the forests of its native islands in search of nectar, which it extracts from flowers using its curved, pointed beak. Though it closely resembles the South American honeycreepers, it is actually more closely related to the finches, a recent discovery based on studies of its skeletal structure and its genetic makeup. Finches typically have triangular bills suited to seed eating, so the radical divergence of the iiwi and the Hawaiian honeycreepers to which it is related constitutes a remarkable instance of evolutionary plasticity.