Ardea cocoi
Silhouette: Giles Laurent · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The cocoi heron (Ardea cocoi) is a species of long-legged wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae found across South America. It has predominantly pale grey plumage with a darker grey crest. A carnivore, it hunts fish and crustaceans in shallow water.
The cocoi heron was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1766 12th edition of Systema Naturae, The origin of its species name is unknown, but may be related to the common name in Chile cuca, which in turn denotes the bird's call note. It is more widely known in South America as garza mora or "black heron".
The cocoi heron forms a superspecies with the similar Afro-Eurasian grey heron and North and Central American great blue heron, with all of these species showing similar skeletal morphology. The cocoi heron is the largest of the South American heron species and measures 95–130 cm (37.5–51 in) in length, although body sizes vary regionally; with southern individuals probably being the largest. Adult weight of both males and females can variously range from 1.14 to 3.2 kg (2.5 to 7 lb). In the adult, wing length has been recorded as 421–455 mm (16.5–18 in), tail length 161–173 mm... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 4 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 7 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 10 | Maracaibo | 🇻🇪 Venezuela |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque das Aves | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Bioparque Educativo Quillón | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 6 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Buin Zoo | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 8 | Mangal das Garças | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cocoi Heron sighting in Caroni Swamp on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 91st most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cocoi Heron in Caroni Swamp on a given day, against under 5% in May, July–September and December, the lowest months. Those are among Caroni Swamp's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in August.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cocoi Heron sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 26
Of the 26 parks where we can rate Cocoi Heron sightings, Caroni Swamp ranks 13th at about 10%. The best odds are in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 90%), Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, about 50%) and Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Ardea
The closest relatives of the Cocoi Heron that you can see in Caroni Swamp (genus Ardea, Great Herons and Egrets) are Great Egret (about 80%) and Great Blue Heron (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cocoi Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Caroni Swamp (56 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
