Where it lives: Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America What it eats: Leaves, fruits and flowers Why it's awesome: The hoatzin is often regarded as one of the world's strangest birds.

Hoatzins sport a mohawk-like crest, neon-blue faces, and red eyes, resembling a funky bird with dramatic cape-like wings. Hoatzins are the only birds with a foregut fermentation system, like cows, to ...