Bittern Bird

The American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is a heron species that live in the United States. It breeds in Canada and the northern and central United States, and winters in the Gulf Coast states of the United States, including all Florida into the Everglades, the Caribbean islands, and parts of Central America.

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It's a lonely brown bird with well-camouflaged plumage that lives in marshes and the coarse vegetation at the edges of lakes and ponds. The male's powerful, booming call is most prominent during the breeding season. The female nurtures the clutch of olive-colored eggs for approximately four weeks in a nest built a little above the water, generally among bulrushes and cattails. After two weeks, the chicks leave the nest and are fully formed after six or seven weeks.

The American bittern eats primarily fish, although it also consumes other small animals, crabs, and insects. It is quite abundant across its range, although habitat loss is likely to be reducing its numbers, particularly in the south. The total population, however, is vast, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified it as "Least Concern" for conservation.

Description

The American bittern is a huge, chunky brown bird that looks a lot like the Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris), except it's a little smaller and has speckled plumage instead of barred. It has a body length of 58–85 cm (23–33 in), a wingspan of 92–115 cm (36–45 in), and a body mass of 370–1,072 g (0.816–2.363 lb). 

The feathers in the middle of the crown are black, and the crown is chestnut brown. The male does have a broader bluish-black elongated patch on the side of the neck than that of the female. The mantle and scapulars are dark chestnut-brown, striped and speckled with black, and few of the feathers are bordered with buff. The back, rump, and higher tail-coverts are of the same hue, but the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are much more richly speckled with black and the feathers have grey bases. The primaries and secondaries are blackish-brown with buff or chestnut tips, while the tail feathers are chestnut brown with speckled edges. Brown cheeks with a buff superciliary stripe and a mustachial stripe of the same tint.

The chin is buttery white with a chestnut middle stripe, while the throat, breast, and upper belly feathers are buff and rust-colored, delicately edged with black, providing the underparts a striped impression. The iris is pale yellow, and the eyes are bordered by yellowish skin. The long, robust bill is yellowish-green, with the top mandible darker than the lower, and yellowish-green legs and feet. Juveniles have less olive on the sides of their necks than adults.

Distribution and Habitat

Its distribution encompasses a large portion of North America. It spawns as far north as British Columbia, the Great Slave Lake, and Hudson Bay in southern Canada, as well as much of the United States and probably central Mexico. It moves southward throughout the fall and spends the winter in the Gulf Coast region of the United States, particularly in the swampy Everglades of Florida, the Caribbean Islands, and Mexico, with previous records from Panama and Costa Rica. It is an extremely unusual vagrant in Europe, especially the United Kingdom and Ireland, as a long-distance migratory. It's an aquatic bird that hangs out in bogs, wetlands, and the densely vegetated edges of shallow-water lakes and ponds, both fresh and brackish or salt. It hunts in open areas such as wet meadows and pastures on occasion.

Behavior

The American bittern is a solitary bird that is difficult to watch because it hides effectively. It stalks its victim by walking cautiously through shallow water and through the foliage, but it also stands still very much in ambush. If it detects that it is being observed, it stays immobile, its bill pointed skyward, its cryptic colour blending it into the surrounding greenery. It is primarily nocturnal, with the peak of activity occurring at dusk. The male bittern seems to have a loud, booming call that sounds like a clogged pump and can be translated as "oong, kach, oonk." It is more often heard than seen. The bird's head is convulsively pushed upward and then forward while making this sound, which is repeated up to seven times.

The exact mechanism through which the bittern makes its characteristic sound is unknown. The bird is said to progressively blow out its neck by inflating its oesophagus with air while making a faint clicking or hiccuping sound. Flaps next to the tongue help to keep the oesophagus inflated. The unmistakable gulping sound is created in the syrinx once this movement is accomplished and the oesophagus is fully expanded. The bird deflates its oesophagus after the sound stops.

The American bittern, like many members of the heron family, thrives in marshes and shallow ponds, primarily on fish but also reptiles, amphibians, crabs, small mammals, and insects. It's a territorial bird with a danger show that entails gently raising long, white, previously hidden plumes on its shoulders to create wing-like extensions which almost connect along its back, like a ruff. The bird then either freezes in a threatening position or pursues the intruder in a crouched position, head retracted and gliding stride.

Little Bittern

The common little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) is a wading bird in the Ardeidae family of herons. Ixias, a reed-like plant, and brukhomai, to bellow, are from Ancient Greek, and minutus is Latin for "little."

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Distribution

Little bitterns are Old World birds that breed in Africa, Central and Southern Europe, Southern and Western Asia, and Madagascar. Migratory birds from temperate Europe and western Asia winter in Africa as well as further south in Asia, whilst stationary birds breed in the tropics. It is extremely uncommon north of its mating habitat. There were occasional reports of breeding in the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom, as well as in 1946 and 1957, but none of these accounts could be verified. The first confirmed British breeding record was in Yorkshire in 1984, and the second was in the Avalon Marshes in Somerset in 2010. By 2017, this species had been found in this area for nine years in a row.

Description 

The small bittern measures 33–38 centimetres in length and 52–58 cm in wingspan. It is Europe's tiniest breeding heron, distinguished by its small stature, large and pointed bill, and thick neck. Both sexes have pale forewing panels, and the males have a unique pattern. The head, tail, back, neck, and scapulars of males are black with a subtle green shine. The underparts appear pale buff, and the wing bears a pinkish buff oval shaped panel created by the inner wing coverts that contrasts with the completely black wings. The underside of the wing is totally whiteish. The female seems to have a duller appearance than the male, with brownish black upperparts and paler feather edges that may be seen real close.

The female's underbelly is speckled with dark buff and brown and is not as clean as the male's. The wing panel on the female is less visible than the male's. The youngsters are duller and much more rufous than that of the females, and their upperparts and underparts, comprising their wing coverts, are far more extensively streaked.

Behaviour

The small bittern is nocturnal, nocturnal, and solitary. Fish, amphibians, and insects are taken inside reedbeds or on their borders by the bird that stalks the prey gradually. In the spring, the male establishes a territory by making a deep barking or croaking sound, and the monogamous pair stays together for at least one mating season.

Eurasian Bittern

Botaurus stellaris, often known as the Eurasian bittern or great bittern, is a wading bird belonging to the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. The northern race (B. s. stellaris) breeds in sections of Europe and the Palearctic, and also along the northern coast of Africa, whereas the southern race (B. s. capensis) is only found in areas of southern Africa.

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It's a shy bird that loves to hide in reed beds and heavy foliage around water sources, so it's rarely seen in the open. It is most noticeable in the spring, when the male's booming call mostly during breeding season could be observed. Fish, fledgling birds, small mammals, crabs, amphibians, and insects are among its favourite foods. The nest is frequently made amid the reeds near the water's edge. The female incubates the eggs and nourishes the young chicks, who depart the nest at around two weeks of age. She looks after them until they have been fully fledged, which takes around six weeks.

The population is estimated to be in fall globally due to its specialised habitat requirements and the overall fall in wetlands throughout its range. The loss is modest, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified it as "least concern" in terms of overall conservation. Nonetheless, some local communities are in jeopardy, and the southern race's number has decreased even more rapidly, which is cause for alarm. It is one of the most endangered species of birds in the United Kingdom.

Description

Great bittern are herons with broad plumage that is bright, buffy-brown, pale, in colour with dark streaks and bars. This species seems to be the biggest of the bitterns, with males typically slightly larger than females, as its other name implies. The Eurasian or great bittern measures 69–81 cm (27–32 in) in length, has a wingspan of 100–130 cm (40–50 in), and weighs 0.87–1.94 kg.

The individual feathers are elongated and loosely organised, capped with buff and barred with black, while the crown and nape are black. The tawny-buff on the sides of the head and neck is unevenly banded with black. The mantle, scapulars, and back are all the same colour, however the scapulars, mantle, and back are much more severely barred, with black centres and barring on the individual feathers. A yellowish-buff superciliary band and a brownish-black moustachial stripe can be found on the head. The neck's edges are a rusty-brown colour with minor banding. The chin and throat are buffs, with longitudinal stripes of rusty-brown on the throat's center feathers. Yellowish-buff on the breast and belly, with wide brown stripes on the sides and small stripes in the center.

Pinnated Bittern

The pinnated bittern (Botaurus pinnatus), sometimes referred to as the South American bittern, is a big heron species found within the tropics of the New World. Its plumage is primarily buffy-brown and cryptically patterned, like most of the other Botaurus bitterns. Despite its extensive distribution, it is rarely seen, owing to its skulking habits, and nothing is understood about its life history.

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Description

The pinnated bittern seems to be a large heron with a body length of 25–30 in (64–76 cm) and a weight of 554–1,157 g (1.2–2.6 lb); males weigh significantly more than females. The sexes are identical in appearance, although females are smaller and their tails are brown rather than black. Adults and juvenile birds are buffy in appearance but strongly patterned with cryptic patterning. The ground colour of juveniles is slightly more reddish. The throat is white with no markings, the foredeck is white with pale brown streaks, and the remaining of the neck is buff with thin black barring. The back is buff, extensively streaked, and bordered with black, whereas the breast and belly are white with wide pale brown stripes. Rectrices are dark in males and brown in females; in flight, the slate-grey remiges provide a striking two-toned look.

The bill is robust and powerful, with a dark upper mandible and a golden overall colour. A brown line runs throughout the lores, and the naked facial skin is brilliant yellow. The iris is yellow, and the legs are greenish-yellow.