Bird name:

American Bittern

Botaurus lentiginosus

Order

CICONIIFORMES

Family

Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Code 4

AMBI

Code 6

BOTLEN

ITIS

174856

Breeding Location:

Lakes, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Rivers

Breeding Type:

Solitary nester, May be polygamous

Breeding Population:

Fairly common, Declining in the South

Egg Color:

Pale brown to olive buff

Number of Eggs:

2 - 7

Incubation Days:

24 - 29

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Grasses, reeds, and cattails.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

American Bittern: Medium-sized, secretive, heron-like wading bird with stout body and neck, and relatively short legs. Upperparts are streaked brown and buff and underparts are white with brown streaks. Throat is white with black slashes on sides of neck. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is similar but with dark brown neck slashes.

Range and Habitat

American Bittern: Breeds from southeastern Alaska, Manitoba, and Newfoundland south to California, New Mexico, Arkansas, and the Carolinas. Spends winters from coastal British Columbia, Illinois, and along the Atlantic coast to Long Island, and south to Costa Rica (rarely) and Greater Antilles. Preferred habitats include freshwater wetlands with tall emergent vegetation.

Breeding and Nesting

American Bittern: Usually considered monogamous, but sometimes exhibits polygamy. Female chooses nest site and builds the nest, usually in dense emergent vegetation over water. Nest is constructed of reeds, sedges, cattails, and other vegetation. Two to seven pale brown or olive buff eggs are laid and incubated for 24 to 28 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

American Bittern: Feeds on insects, amphibians, crayfish, and small fish and mammals. When foraging, it relies on stealth while waiting motionlessly for prey to pass by, at which time it darts forward to seize the prey in its bill.

Vocalization

American Bittern: On breeding grounds, makes a loud pumping sound, "oong-KA-chunk", repeated a few times, audible for half a mile or more. Flight call is a low "kok-kok-kok."

Similar Species

American Bittern: Least Bittern is much smaller with pale wing coverts. Juvenile night herons have white spots or streaks on upperparts, lack black neck slashes, have thicker bills, and lack black primaries and secondaries.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America