The Story
I photographed this Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) at the Charca de Guarinocito near La Dorada, Caldas, Colombia on June 25, 2017. In South America it is widely known as the garza mora. It lives at almost any body of water away from dense forest, including lake shores, swamps, rivers and estuaries. It is a large heron found across much of South America, mostly pale gray with a darker gray crest.
I took this with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. IUCN lists the Cocoi Heron as Least Concern with a stable population, and people living around the lagoon see the birds as an attraction for visitors and do not allow them to be hunted.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) belongs to the family Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List