It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semicolonially in mangrove trees, laying two to four bluish-white eggs in a twig nest.

[3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.

Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Cancroma cochlearia, and cited Brisson's work.

[5] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

[9] The name Cochlearius is from the Latin cocleare, coclearis, or cochlearium for a "spoon in the form of a snail shell".

[18] Boat-billed herons will forage nocturnally and have been seen leaving the roost 30 minutes after sundown to feed.

[15][14] One study hypothesized that in order to forage for food in the dark and in shallow, muddy water, their bills are sensitive to touch, which helps them feel for their prey.