| Species ID | 040330 |
| Name | Boat-billed Heron |
| Other Common Names | Cooper,ıSpoon-billedıCarpenter |
| Category | 04 Birds |
| Phylum | |
| Subphylum | |
| Class | Aves |
| Subclass | Neornithes |
| Suborder | Ardeae |
| Family | Ardeidae |
| Genus | Cochlearius |
| Species | cochlearius |
| Subspecies | phllipsi |
| References | 1, 2, 36 |
| Scientific Synonyms | Cancroma cochlearia - Linnaeus, 1766 |
1* Sometimes considered a separate subfamily or family.
| Status Code | Status Translation | References |
| 2 | Resident, species present all year. | 26 |
| 2 | Resident, species present all year. | 33 |
| 13 | Apparently secure in Belize | 32 |
| 272 | Uncommon: occur at low density in proper habitat. | 32 |
| 19 | Of concern: cayes and coastal zone | 6 |
| 2 | Resident, species present all year. | 3 |
| DISTRICT | References |
| Belize, Belize | 4 |
| Cayo, Belize | 8 |
| Corozal, Belize | 10 |
| Orange Walk, Belize | 5 |
| Stann Creek, Belize | 11 |
| Administrative Unit | Occurrence | Abundance | Temporal | References |
| Rio Bravo Conservation Area | Sighting | Dry season (Jan-May) | 26 | |
| Bacalar Chico National Park | Sighting | Unknown, insufficient data | October | 37 |
| Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve | Sighting | Dry season (Jan-May) | 10 | |
| Payne's Creek Wildlife Sanctuary | Sighting | Wet season (June-December) | 17 | |
| Shipstern Nature Reserve | Dry season (Jan-May) | 14 | ||
| Rio Bravo Conservation Area | Common | Dry season (Jan-May) | 17 | |
| Rio Bravo Conservation Area | 19 | |||
| Rio Bravo Conservation Area | 27 | |||
| Gallon Jug | Dry season (Jan-May) | 5 | ||
| Gallon Jug | 18 | |||
| Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary | Permanent Resident (Year-round) | 20 | ||
| Bladen Nature Reserve | Sighting | Permanent Resident (Year-round) | 12 | |
| Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | Sighting | 24 | ||
| Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 25 | |||
| Hidden Valley & Falls (Bull Run) | 29 | |||
| Lamanai Archaeological Reserve | Dry season (Jan-May) | 13 | ||
| Altun Ha Archaeological Reserve | 28 | |||
| Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) | Sighting | Wet season (June-December) | 9 | |
| Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) | 4 | |||
| Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Proposed) | Dry season (Jan-May) | 17 | ||
| Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Proposed) | Wet season (June-December) | 23 | ||
| Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Proposed) | 22 | |||
| Private land, see comments | Common | 8 | ||
| Private land, see comments | Uncommon | Permanent Resident (Year-round) | 15 | |
| Private land, see comments | Dry season (Jan-May) | 11 | ||
| Private land, see comments | 17 | |||
| Private land, see comments | 7 | |||
| Private land, see comments | Collected as voucher. | 31 | ||
| Government land | 16 | |||
| Government land | Collected as voucher. | 30 | ||
| Cayes, other; see comments | 17 | |||
| Cayes, other; see comments | 22 | |||
| Cayes, other; see comments | 6 | |||
| Turneffe Reef | 17 |
| Hydrologic Unit Distribution | References |
| New River Lagoon | 27 |
| Sibun River | 17 |
| Cox's Lagoon | 4 |
| Belize River | 7 |
| Macal River | 8 |
| Mussel Creek | 9 |
| Bladen Branch | 12 |
| Sittee River | 11 |
| New River | 13 |
| ELEVATION Association | References |
| 1-200 m | 37 |
| 1-200 m | 24 |
| 1-200 m | 26 |
| 1-200 m | 27 |
| 1-200 m | 28 |
| 1-200 m | 30 |
| 1-200 m | 31 |
| 401-600 m | 29 |
| QUAD Distribution | References |
| 17 52'35" to 18 11'30"; 87 49' to 88 03' | 37 |
| 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' | 13 |
| 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' | 20 |
| 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' | 28 |
| 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' | 18 |
| 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' | 27 |
| 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' | 5 |
| 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' | 27 |
| 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' | 17 |
| 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' | 26 |
| 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' | 27 |
| 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' | 28 |
| 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' | 5 |
| 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' | 7 |
| 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' | 4 |
| 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' | 16 |
| 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' | 22 |
| 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' | 23 |
| 16 15' to 16 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' | 17 |
| 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' | 31 |
| 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' | 8 |
| 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' | 29 |
| 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' | 17 |
| Holdridge Life Zone Distribution | References |
| Subtropical moist | 37 |
| Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical | 30 |
| Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical | 24 |
| Subtropical wet | 25 |
| Subtropical moist | 31 |
| Subtropical moist | 28 |
| Subtropical moist | 27 |
| Subtropical moist | 26 |
| Subtropical Lower Montane wet | 29 |
Comments on Distribution
37* Bacalar Chico National Park.
33* Common northern semideciduous moist forest.
Uncommon southern moist-wet evergreen broadleaf forests.
Common coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas.
Common mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches.
Uncommon cayes inc. Ambergris.
3* Common in northern hardwood forests, uncommon in southern hardwood
forests,common in coastal savannahs,common in mangroves & beaches along
coastal mainland,rare in cayes inc. Ambergris.
22* Bird Caye
17* Ycaco's Lagoon; Soldier Cay; Cayo; Grassy Cay
16* Jone's Lagoon
15* Gold Button Ranch; Large rookery (ca. 20 nests) located in swamp along
the Rio Hondo on property adjacent to Gold Button Ranch
12* Richardson Crk. & Bladen Br. upstream to Calera Caves
11* Possum Point Biological Station
8* Sighted at or within 5 mile radius of Chaa Creek Cottages
7* Banana Bank Ranch
6* Following Cayes: Bird, Pajaro, Tostado, Shipstern
| Land Use/Land Cover Associations | References |
| Mixed Forest Land | 29 |
| Water | 25 |
| Streams and Canals | 25 |
| Trophic |
| PISCIVORE |
References on Trophic Level
34, 35
| Lifestage | Food Item Consumed | Part of Food Item | |
| Adult | Fish | Adult stage |
Comments on General Food Habits
34* At night solitary when fishing from water's edge or low snag, detecting prey by sight or perhaps touch; often forages in darker places than Black-crowned Night-Heron. 35* Solitary feeder at night; function of bill still not fully understood.
| References/Lifestage | Reference Numbers |
| References/Lifestage | Reference Numbers |
| References/Result | Reference Numbers |
1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Hunt, H. R., J. Tamarack. 1992. Cox Lagoon Crocodile Preserve. Unpub. report. pp.4-8 5 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 6 McRae, E., 1994. The Birds of Belize's Coastal Zone: Species, Distribution, Current Status, Threats to Their Well-being, and Potential Measures to Reduce Their impact. Unpublished report. 7 Duncan, M., W. Duncan. 1993. Banana Bank, Nov. 1, Checklist provided in lit. 8 Carnegie Ornithological Group and Mass Audubon Ornithological Group, compilers. 1993. Chaa Creek Bird List. Unpublished list. 9 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1987. Conservation of a Critical Marsh and Lowland habitat, Mussel Creek drainage system, Belize, C.A. Report to NYZS/Wildlife Conservation Society. 10 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. Avian Surveys: Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve 1-10 March. Unpublished Report to the Forestry Dept. 11 Anon. 1993. Bird Checklist for Possum Point Biological Station, Sittee River, Belize 12 Brokaw, N. L. V., T. L. Lloyd-Evans. 1987. The Bladen Branch Wilderness. p.38-42. Unpublished report. 13 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 14 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 15 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 16 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 17 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 18 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. A working checklist of the birds of Gallon Jug. Unpublished list. 19 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 20 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpub- lished report. 22 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 23 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 24 Robbins, Chandler. 1996. U.S.F.& Wildlife Service Wintering Bird Surveys for Belize. Unpublished data provided by C. Robbins. 25 Kamstra, J. May 1987. An Ecological Survey of the Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Masters Thesis. York University, Ontario, Canada 26 Vallely, Andrew C. and A.A. Whitman. 1997. The Birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Cotinga. 8:39-49. 27 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 28 ROM. 1997. Royal Ontario Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jan. 1, 1997. Provided by Brad Millen. 29 Miller, B. W., C. M. Miller. 1992. Avian Studies at Hidden Valley. Unpublished report for Mt. Pleasant Ltd. 30 Panza, R. 1997. Carnegie Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jun. 1, 1997. 31 Hinshaw, J. 1997. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology bird holdings through Jun. 1, 1997. 32 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 33 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p. 34 Stiles, F. G., A. F. Skutch. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Ithaca, NY. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, New York. p. 83. 35 Howell, S. N. G., S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York. Oxford University Press. pp. 144-145. 36 Young, W. Ford. nd. Local Birds Names. Belize Audubon Society. 37 Meadows, M. 1995. Bacalar Chico Bird Report, Ambergris Caye in International Tropical Conservation Foundation Bacalar Chico, Interim Report, April-December 1994. M. Dotherow compiler.