American Bittern

Botaurus lentiginosusOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

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.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"oong-KA-chunk", "kok-kok-kok"

Interesting Facts

The American Bittern has a remarkable, though rarely seen, courtship display. The male arches his back, shortens his neck, dips his breast forward, and "booms" at the female. Both birds engage in complicated aerial displays.

They prefer to freeze, not flush like other herons when approached. If an observer is nearby, they will often stretch their neck up, bill pointed towards the sky, and sway from side to side as if imitating waving reeds.

They use resounding calls to communicate. These eerie calls have earned them many nicknames: stake-driver, thunder-pumper, and mire-drum.

A group of bitterns has many collective nouns, including a "dash", "freeze", "pint", "pretense" and "siege" of bitterns.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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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.

American Bittern

American Bittern: Medium, 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. Strong direct flight with deep rapid wing beats.

● Song: "oong-KA-chunk", "kok-kok-kok"

● Foraging & 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.

● Breeding & 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.

● 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.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with deep rapid wing beats.

● Range & 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.

^BreedingSolitary nester, May be polygamous

^PopulationFairly common, Declining in the South

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight25.6 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America