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Least Bittern

Ixobrychus exilisOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)

Least-Bittern Portrait
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General

Least Bittern: Very small, secretive heron with black cap and back, buff head, neck, and sides, and white throat and belly. Wings have conspicuous pale brown patches visible in flight. A darker brown phase also exists. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Least Bittern: Breeds in wetland areas throughout the eastern U.S. and along the Pacific coast. Spends winters from the southern states south to Colombia. Found in dense marshlands supporting cattails and reeds.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"coo-coo-coo"

Interesting Facts

 The Least Bittern was first described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin, a German naturalist, botanist and entomologist.

 Thanks to its habit of straddling reeds, it can feed in water that would be too deep for the wading strategy of other herons.

 When alarmed, it freezes in place with its bill pointed up, turns its front and both eyes toward the source of alarm, and sometimes sways to resemble wind-blown marsh vegetation.

 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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Range Map for Least Bittern
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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.
Family Bittern (Ardeidae)_blue
Species Ixobrychus exilis
Length11 - 14 Inches
Wingspan17 Inches

Least Bittern

Least Bittern: Very small, secretive heron with black cap and back, and white throat and belly. Wings have conspicuous pale brown patches visible in flight. The bill, legs and feet are yellow. Feeds on fish, insects, small amphibians, crustaceans and invertebrates.

● Song: "coo-coo-coo"

● Foraging & Feeding: Least Bittern: Diet consists of small fish, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, leeches, slugs, crayfish, dragonflies, aquatic bugs, and occasionally shrews and mice.

● Breeding & nesting: Least Bittern: Two to seven pale blue to green eggs are laid in a platform nest made of dead and living plant stems, and built about a foot above the water, usually at the base of dried, emergent vegetation. Incubation ranges from 17 to 20 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Least Bittern: Green Heron lacks buff on head and wings.

Flight Pattern

Weak direct flight with slow labored wing beats.
Least-Bittern Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Least Bittern: Breeds in wetland areas throughout the eastern U.S. and along the Pacific coast. Spends winters from the southern states south to Colombia. Found in dense marshlands supporting cattails and reeds.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationDeclining
MigrationMigratory
Weight3 Ounces