Cocoi Heron Gallery

Ardea cocoi

The Birds of the World website offers these introductory words about the Cocoi Heron:  The largest of the South American Herons, the Cocoi Heron is a  gregarious heron of South America away from the high Andes,  from eastern Panama south to Central Argentina and Chile. While likely a resident in most of its range, a few vagrant records (notably Trinidad and the Falkland islands) suggest movements by at least some birds.  In many parts of its range, the Cocoi Heron is the most common and easy to see heron, as it forages in the open, and occupies a large range of habitats where there is water.  The Cocoi Heron can often be seen in along rivers, streams, marshes,  or even agricultural waterways as it forages for fish, frogs, and other similarly-sized animals by standing or walking slowly near or in shallow water.  The large size and long, all-white neck, a black cap make this bird distinctive throughout its range. Though young birds may appear similar to the closely related Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), they always show the distinctive dark cap that comes down below the eye.

I saw and photographed my first Cocoi Heron on the morning of August 19, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was at Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau located on the Juruena River west of Alta Floresta.  That morning we were up early for a boat ride on the river when we spotted a solitary and stately Cocoi Heron near the river.  I would see other Cocoi Herons on my trip, but this was the first one I saw.  For a more detailed description of the trip that included my sighting of this bird look at this blog post.  Here are some of my photos of this majestic bird.

I saw lots of Cocoi Herons during the Pantanal Portion of my Brazil Trip.  This photo was taken on the Rio Sararé near the Santa Tereza Lodge on February 23, 2023.  I was delighted to get some shots of this Heron grabbing fish on the fly!