Birds · La Saladita, Guerrero

Boat-billed Heron

Cochlearius cochlearius

Spanish: Garza cucharón

The boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius), colloquially known as the boatbill, is an atypical member of the heron family, and was formerly placed in a monotypic family, the Cochlearidae. It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil. It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semicolonially in mangrove trees, laying two to four bluish-white eggs in a twig nest.

TaxonomyAves › Pelecaniformes › Ardeidae

Local records45 research-grade observations within about 50 km of La Saladita (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones)

Global records5,185 on iNaturalist

Most recent records2025 – 2026

Months of the 8 most recent records

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Recent local sightings

2026-04-23 — observation by isa_moguel
2026-04-11 — observation by soulbiol
2026-04-03 — observation by soulbiol
2026-02-15 — observation by soulbiol
2026-01-18 — observation by zihuadean
2025-12-30 — observation by alejandro_romart

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Birds guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/cochlearius-cochlearius/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.