Boat-billed Heron
Cochlearius cochlearius
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPelecaniformes (Pelicaniformes)
- FamilyArdeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns)
- GenusCochlearius
- SpeciesCochlearius cochlearius (Boat-billed Heron)
The boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius), colloquially known as the boatbill, is an atypical member of the heron family. It is the only member of the genus Cochlearius and was formerly placed in a monotypic family, the Cochleariidae. It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying two to four bluish-white eggs in a twig nest. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park
Cattle Egret
Bubulcus ibis
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Tricolored Heron
Egretta tricolor
Agami Heron
Agamia agami
Fasciated Tiger Heron
Tigrisoma fasciatum
Great Egret
Ardea alba
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
Green Heron
Butorides virescens
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Tigrisoma mexicanum
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
Black-crowned Night Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Boat-billed Heron at Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there