The Story
I photographed this Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) at Playa El Diablo, near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. This long-legged heron ranges from Central America to the shores of the Strait of Magellan, though it is rarely found south of Chubut in Argentina. It uses almost any body of water or wetland away from dense forest, including lake shores, swamps, rivers and estuaries, and it is found up to 2,550 meters above sea level. Adults weigh from 1.14 to 3.2 kilograms. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/8000 sec, f/16, ISO 4000, −2 EV. La Macarena National Park traces its origins to the La Macarena Biological Reserve of 1948 and today covers 629,280 hectares of humid forest, flooded forest, scrub and Amazonian savanna.
©2021 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