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Boat-billed Heron | Cochlearius cochlearius
Schuitbekreiger | Garza cucharón
The Boat-billed Heron is a stocky night heron with a broad, flat bill that recalls an upturned boat. By day it roosts hidden in dense mangrove or swamp forest, setting out to feed only after dark. In the region it occurs only in Trinidad.
Voice
Mainly at night and at the roost, a low, hoarse kwok and frog-like croaking. When excited it clatters the bill, producing a hollow popping sound.
Recording: Leonardo Guzman Hernandez — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
45–51 cm, stocky and short-necked, with large dark eyes and a very broad, scoop-shaped black bill. The crown and a long, broad crest are black; forehead, cheeks and throat are white. The back and wings are pale grey, the breast whitish to dull buff, the belly rufous and the flanks black. The legs are yellow-green. Males have a longer crest than females. Juveniles are brown above and dull buffy brown below, with a dark crown and hardly any crest, but already have the distinctive bill.
Confusion species
The bill is unique in the region. Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax has a similar shape but a narrow, pointed bill, a black back and a white belly. Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea is grey with a black-and-white striped head and lacks the rufous belly. Young Boat-billed Herons are told from young night herons by the bill and the absence of white spots on the wing.
Habitat
Mangroves, swamp forest and wooded banks of rivers, creeks and lagoons. By day it roosts in small groups in dense trees over water. At night it hunts in shallow water, scooping up or seizing fish, shrimps, crabs, frogs and aquatic insects. It nests singly or in loose groups in mangroves; the nest is a platform of sticks.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
In the region only in Trinidad, in the coastal mangroves and swamps. It is absent from Tobago. Outside the region from Mexico through Central America to Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and north-eastern Argentina.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
A boat trip through the mangroves of the Caroni Swamp in Trinidad offers a chance of roosting birds in the trees along the channels; they often sit half hidden and are often picked up by the pale breast or the large eyes. They leave the roost at dusk.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species has a large range. In Trinidad it depends on mangroves and swamp forest, which are being lost locally to cutting, development and pollution.
Scientific name
Cochlearius cochlearius | (Linnaeus, 1766)
Linnaeus described the species in 1766 as Cancroma Cochlearia; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Cochlearius was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Cochlearius comes from Latin cochlear 'spoon', after the broad, scoop-shaped bill. cochlearius repeats the genus name, from Latin cochlear 'spoon', after the broad, scoop-shaped bill. The specimen the first description was based on came from the Guianas (not specified).