Species guide
Cocoi Heron: how to recognise it
A bird of North America and South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Paul Donahue · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Ardea cocoi
- Family
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns
- Size
- About 95–130 cm
- Habitat
- Rivers, lakes, mangroves and marshes
- Found in
- North America and South America
The key marks
A very large heron with a black crown, a white neck and a grey back, much like the Grey Heron but with black thighs.
Voice
A loud, rough “kraak”.
Good to know
It is the South American counterpart of the Grey Heron and fishes patiently in the shallows.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in rivers, lakes, mangroves and marshes. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.