Capped Heron

Capped Heron

Pilherodius pileatus

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Campo Grande

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

8 Verified sightings at Campo Grande
3,590 In all 10 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Capped Heron

The capped heron (Pilherodius pileatus) is a water bird endemic to the neotropics, inhabiting rainforest from the center of Panama to the south of Brazil. It is the only species of the genus Pilherodius, and one of the least known of the heron family, Ardeidae. It is superficially similar to the group of the night herons, but is active during daytime or at twilight.

The capped heron was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Ardea pileata in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The capped heron is now the only species placed in the genus Pilherodius that was erected by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853. The genus name combines the Ancient... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:37

Brazil · 2005

© Peter Boesman · XC228070 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~40%
2 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
~30%
3 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~20%
4 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
~20%
5 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
~20%
6 Sierra de la Macarena National Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
7 Anavilhanas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
8 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
9 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
10 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Goiânia 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
2 Campo Grande 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
3 Asuncion 🇵🇾 Paraguay
<5%
4 Valencia 🇻🇪 Venezuela
<5%
5 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
2 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Capped Heron in Campo Grande?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Capped Heron sighting in Campo Grande on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 189th most-seen of the 221 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Capped Heron in Campo Grande?

August

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Capped Heron in Campo Grande on a given day, against under 5% in September to July, the lowest months. That is one of Campo Grande's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 200 mm in January.

What time of day is best to see a Capped Heron?

Between 3 and 6 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Capped Heron sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Campo Grande the best place to see a Capped Heron?

Among the best

Of the 5 cities where we can rate Capped Heron sightings, Campo Grande ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Goiânia (Brazil, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Capped Heron live in Campo Grande?

Same family: Ardeidae

The closest relatives of the Capped Heron that you can see in Campo Grande (family Ardeidae, Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) are Great Egret (about 20%), Black-crowned Night Heron (about 20%) and Snowy Egret (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Capped Heron sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Capped Heron is recorded against all the birds logged in Campo Grande (8 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.

← Back to Campo Grande