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Boat-Billed Herons (Cochlearius cochlearius)Physical Description: Boat-Billed Herons have plumage that is a pale grey to white color, with chestnut colored abdomens and black flanks. They also have large, dark eyes, which help in foraging for food in the dark. Their bills are primarily black and they are as wide as their heads. Their bill is also very sensitive, allowing them to feel out prey in murky water. They are approximately 20 inches long and weigh a little over a pound. They have a wingspan of 30 inches.
Boat-Billed Herons have specialized downy feathers that don't molt and grow continuously throughout the bird’s life. The ends break off as a powder that the bird then uses while preening to waterproof its other feathers. The male Boat-Billed Heron is slightly larger than the female and has a longer occipital plume than the female. Their calls include a high- pitched “pee-pee-pee” and deep croaks. They also use bill-pops that sound like hands clapping. |
Habitat: They typically live in the marshes, seasonal lagoons, and estuaries of tropical rainforests. They nest in mangrove swamps in platform nests made of sticks, with leafy branches and are often reused from year-to-year.
Range: They can be found in South and Central America as well as southern Mexico.
Diet: They are carnivores and eat fish, amphibians, shrimp, and insects.
Lifespan: They have a median lifespan of 8.8 years1.
Social Structure: Boat-Billed Herons are normally solitary, only gathering to mate. They are monogamous during the breeding season and possibly beyond. The Boat-Billed Heron’s breeding season is during the local wet season, which varies across their range. The female lays two to four eggs and both parents incubate them for 21 to 26 days. Chicks are altricial when they hatch, meaning they are completely dependent on their parents. They are blind and covered in pale downy feathers when they hatch. Both parents feed them over the course of six to eight weeks, after which they fly away.
Status: Least Concern2
Other: Boat-Billed Herons commonly leave their nests after sundown to feed during the night. It has been observed that they do not feed when a light source is present, such as daylight, moonlight, or artificial light.
1 https://www.zoonewengland.org/franklin-park-zoo/our-animals/birds/boat-billed-heron/
2 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697250/130187930
Range: They can be found in South and Central America as well as southern Mexico.
Diet: They are carnivores and eat fish, amphibians, shrimp, and insects.
Lifespan: They have a median lifespan of 8.8 years1.
Social Structure: Boat-Billed Herons are normally solitary, only gathering to mate. They are monogamous during the breeding season and possibly beyond. The Boat-Billed Heron’s breeding season is during the local wet season, which varies across their range. The female lays two to four eggs and both parents incubate them for 21 to 26 days. Chicks are altricial when they hatch, meaning they are completely dependent on their parents. They are blind and covered in pale downy feathers when they hatch. Both parents feed them over the course of six to eight weeks, after which they fly away.
Status: Least Concern2
Other: Boat-Billed Herons commonly leave their nests after sundown to feed during the night. It has been observed that they do not feed when a light source is present, such as daylight, moonlight, or artificial light.
1 https://www.zoonewengland.org/franklin-park-zoo/our-animals/birds/boat-billed-heron/
2 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22697250/130187930
