boatbill

 

or boatbill, a tropical New World heron, Chochlearius chochlearius. With shorter legs and a squatter appearance than most herons, this bird is remarkable chiefly for its broad bill, which is shaped like an overturned boat. Its coloring is dull brown, gray, and black and is similar in both the male and female. It is a nocturnal, shallow-water feeder, living on a diet of fishes and insects; it roosts and nests in trees. The boat-billed heron inhabits mangrove swamps from Mexico to S Brazil. It is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Ciconiiformes, family Ardeidae.

Boatbill
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ardeidae Genus: Cochlearius Brisson, 1760 Species: C. cochlearius
Binomial name
Cochlearius cochlearius Linnaeus, 1766

For other uses of the word, see Boatbill (disambiguation).

The Boat-billed Heron, Cochlearius cochlearius, - colloquially known as the Boatbill - is an atypical member of the heron family, and was formerly thought to be in a monotypic family, Cochlearidae.

It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi-colonially in mangrove trees, laying 2-4 bluish white eggs in a twig nest.

The Boatbilled Heron is about 54 cm long. The adult has a black crown, long crest and upper back. The face, throat and breast are white, and the lower underparts are rufous with black flanks. The wings and lower back are pale grey. The massive broad scoop-like bill, which gives rise to this species' name, is mainly black. Immature birds have mainly brown upperparts and brown-tinged whitish underparts, and lack the crest.

This species feeds on fish, crustaceans and insects. Its calls include a deep croak and a high-pitched pee-pee-pee.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Cochlearius cochlearius. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5. 
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• A guide to the birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-8014-9600-4

External links

• Photos of the Boat-billed Heron

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