Bittern
Encyclopedia
Bitterns are a classification of birds in the heron
family, Ardeidae, a family of wading birds. Species named bitterns tend to be the shorter-necked, often more secretive members of this family. They were called hæferblæte in Old English
; the word "bittern" came to English
from Old French butor, itself from Gallo-roman butitaurus, a portmanteau of Latin
būtiō and taurus. Bitterns form a monophyletic subfamily in the heron family, the Botaurinae.
Bitterns usually frequent reedbeds and similar marshy areas, and feed on amphibians, reptile
s, insect
s, and fish
.
Unlike the similar stork
s, ibis
es and spoonbill
s, herons and bitterns fly with their necks retracted, not outstretched.
The genus Ixobrychus
contains mainly small species:
The genus Botaurus
is the larger bitterns:
The genus Zebrilus includes only one species:
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
family, Ardeidae, a family of wading birds. Species named bitterns tend to be the shorter-necked, often more secretive members of this family. They were called hæferblæte in Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
; the word "bittern" came to English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
from Old French butor, itself from Gallo-roman butitaurus, a portmanteau of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
būtiō and taurus. Bitterns form a monophyletic subfamily in the heron family, the Botaurinae.
Bitterns usually frequent reedbeds and similar marshy areas, and feed on amphibians, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
.
Unlike the similar stork
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
s, ibis
Ibis
The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....
es and spoonbill
Spoonbill
Spoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises.All have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side...
s, herons and bitterns fly with their necks retracted, not outstretched.
The genus Ixobrychus
Ixobrychus
Ixobrychus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae. It has a single representative species in each of North America, South America, Eurasia and Australasia...
contains mainly small species:
- Little BitternLittle BitternThe Little Bittern is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, native to the Old World, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar. Birds from temperate regions in Europe and western Asia are migratory, wintering in Africa and further south in...
, Ixobrychus minutus - Australian Little BitternAustralian Little BitternThe Black-backed Bittern , also known as the Black-backed Least Bittern or Australian Little Bittern, is a little-known species of heron in the Ardeidae family found in Australia and southern New Guinea...
, Ixobrychus dubius - New Zealand Little BitternNew Zealand Little BitternThe New Zealand Little Bittern is an extinct and enigmatic species of heron in the Ardeidae family. It was endemic to New Zealand and was last recorded alive in the 1890s....
, Ixobrychus novaezelandiae (extinct) - Cinnamon BitternCinnamon BitternThe Cinnamon Bittern or Chestnut Bittern is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan to Sri Lanka east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances.This is a small species at 38 cm length, with a...
, Ixobrychus cinnamomeus - Stripe-backed BitternStripe-backed BitternThe Stripe-backed Bittern is a species of heron in the Ardeidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, and possibly Ecuador.Its natural habitat is swamps.- References : Database...
, Ixobrychus involucris - Least BitternLeast BitternThe Least Bittern is a small wading bird, the smallest heron found in the Americas.This bird's underparts and throat are white with light brown streaks. Their face and the sides of the neck are light brown; they have yellow eyes and a yellow bill. The adult male is glossy greenish black on the...
, Ixobrychus exilis - Yellow BitternYellow BitternThe Yellow Bittern is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in much of the Indian Subcontinent, east to Japan and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances...
, Ixobrychus sinensis - Schrenck's BitternSchrenck's BitternVon Schrenck's Bittern , also known as Schrenck's Bittern, is a small bittern. It breeds in China and Siberia from March to July, and Japan from May to August. It winters in Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Laos, passing through the rest of South-east Asia...
, Ixobrychus eurhythmus - Dwarf BitternDwarf BitternThe Dwarf Bittern is a species of heron in the Ardeidae family.It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,...
, Ixobrychus sturmii - Black BitternBlack BitternThe Black Bittern, Ixobrychus flavicollis, is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances....
, Ixobrychus flavicollis
The genus Botaurus
Botaurus
Botaurus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae. It has a single representative species in each of North America, Central and South America, Eurasia and Australasia...
is the larger bitterns:
- American BitternAmerican BitternThe American Bittern is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae. New evidence has led the American Ornithologists' Union to move the heron family into the order Pelecaniformes .-Description:...
, Botaurus lentiginosa. - Eurasian Bittern or Great Bittern, Botaurus stellaris
- South American BitternSouth American BitternThe Pinnated Bittern , also known as the South American Bittern, is a large member of the heron family found in the New World tropics. Like the other Botaurus bitterns, its plumage is mostly buffy-brown and cryptically patterned...
, Botaurus pinnatus - Australasian BitternAustralasian BitternThe Australasian Bittern , also known as the Brown Bittern, is found in south-western and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Ouvea. Populations in Australia and New Zealand have declined in the 20th century.It is a large bittern, patterned and streaked brown, buff...
, Botaurus poiciloptilus - Botaurus hibbardi (fossilFossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
)
The genus Zebrilus includes only one species:
- Zigzag Heron (or properly Zigzag Bittern), Zebrilus undulatus