Ardea cocoi
Silhouette: Giles Laurent · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
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 Belo Horizonte on a given day, based on 98 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 75th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, October and December–March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cocoi Heron in Belo Horizonte on a given day, against under 5% in April, June–September and November, the lowest months. Those are among Belo Horizonte's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in July.
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.
14th of 30
Of the 30 cities where we can rate Cocoi Heron sightings, Belo Horizonte ranks 14th at about 10%. The best odds are in Barranquilla (Colombia, about 30%), Buenos Aires (Argentina, about 30%) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cocoi Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Belo Horizonte (98 verified sightings), 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.
