Cocoi heron

Cocoi heron
File:Cocoi heron (Ardea cocoi) Pantanal.JPG
in the Pantanal, Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Genus:	Ardea
Species:	A. cocoi
Binomial name
Ardea cocoi Linnaeus, 1766

The cocoi heron (Ardea cocoi) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It is common and widespread throughout most of South America including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It is a non-breeding visitor to Trinidad and Tobago and a vagrant to the Falkland Islands and Tristan da Cunha. Its natural habitats are rivers, swamps, and freshwater lakes.

Description

A large heron, the cocoi can measure 95–127 cm (37–50 in) in length, stand up to 100–130 cm (39–51 in) in height and weigh 1.14–3.2 kg (2.5–7.1 lb). Its markings are not dissimilar to a grey heron's, but it is darker with a longer neck and crest. It has a bright orange beak and dull orange legs, and whilst perched holds its neck in an S shape characteristic of all herons. In flight, it is slow and graceful but appears scrawny due to its neck and large wings. The cocoi heron is extremely similar to its North American and European counterparts, the great blue heron and grey heron, with which the cocoi heron forms a superspecies.