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Botaurinae
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern" came to English from Old French ''butor'', itself from Gallo-Roman ''butitaurus'', a compound of Latin ''būtiō'' (buzzard) and ''taurus'' (bull). Bitterns usually frequent reed beds and similar marshy areas and feed on amphibians, reptiles, insects, and fish. Bitterns, like herons, egrets, and pelicans, fly with their necks retracted, unlike the similar storks, ibises, and spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...s, which fly with necks outstretched. Species There are currently 14 species divided into three genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Bittern
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race (''B. s. stellaris'') breeding in parts of Europe and across the Palearctic, as well as on the northern coast of Africa, while the southern race (''B. s. capensis'') is endemic to parts of southern Africa. It is a secretive bird, seldom seen in the open as it prefers to skulk in reed beds and thick vegetation near water bodies. Its presence is apparent in the spring, when the booming call of the male during the breeding season can be heard. It feeds on fish, small mammals, fledgling birds, amphibians, crustaceans and insects. The nest is usually built among reeds at the edge of bodies of water. The female incubates the clutch of eggs and feeds the young chicks, which leave the nest when about two weeks old. She continues to care for them until they are fully fledged some six weeks later. Wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schrenck's Bittern
Von Schrenck's bittern or Schrenck's bittern (''Ixobrychus eurhythmus'') is a small bittern (birds of the subfamily Botaurinae). It is named after Leopold von Schrenck, the 19th-century Russian naturalist. Description The male is uniformly chestnut above, and buff below and on the wing covert feathers. The female and juvenile are chestnut all over with white speckles above, and white streaks below. When in flight, it shows black flight feathers and tail. It is a small species at in length, with a short neck, longish yellow beak and yellow legs. Distribution and habitat It breeds in China and Siberia from March to July, and Japan from May to August. It winters in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, passing through the rest of Southeast Asia. It is an exceptionally rare vagrant as far west as Europe, with a single sighting in Italy in 1912. Behaviour and ecology Von Schrenck's bittern breeds in reed beds and tends to emerge at dusk to forage for prey. Conservation Wide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardeidae
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus'' are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus ''Zebrilus'', form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks. The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and no clear consensus exists about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, '' Ardea'' and ''Egretta''. Similarly, the relationships of the genera in the family are not completely resolved. However, one species formerly considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis. Description Ibises all have long, downcurved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans. They are monogamous and highly territorial while nesting and feeding. Most nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons. All extant species are capable of flight, but two extinct genera were flightless, namely the kiwi-like ''Apteribis'' in the Hawaiian Islands, and the peculiar '' Xenicibis'' in Jamaica. The word ''ibis'' comes from Latin ''ibis'' from Greek ἶβις ''ibis'' from Egyptian ''hb'', ''hīb''. Beekes, R. S. P. (2009) ''Etymological Dicti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Bittern - Torrile - Italy 4528 (15409347121)
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago and the Russian Far East to the east. The continental landmass is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Africa to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and by Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean to the south. The division between Europe and Asia as two continents is a historical social construct, as many of their borders are over land; thus, in some parts of the world, Eurasia is recognized as the largest of the six, five, or four continents on Earth. In geology, Eurasia is often considered as a single rigid megablock. However, the rigidity of Eurasia is debated based on paleomagnetic data. Eurasia covers around , or around 36.2% of the Earth's total land area. It is also home to the largest c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Bittern
The black bittern (''Ixobrychus flavicollis'') is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. Description It is a fairly large species at in length, being by some margin the largest bittern in the genus ''Ixobrychus''. Compared to related species, it has a longish neck and long yellow bill. The adult is uniformly black above, with yellow neck sides. It is whitish below, heavily streaked with brown. The juvenile is like the adult, but dark brown rather than black. They can be difficult to see, given their skulking lifestyle and reed bed habitat, but tend to fly fairly frequently when the all black upperparts makes them unmistakable. Breeding Their breeding habitat is reed beds. They nest on platforms of reeds in shrubs, or sometimes in trees. Three to five eggs are laid. Diet Black bitterns feed on insects, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf Bittern
The dwarf bittern (''Ixobrychus sturmii'') is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae. Distribution 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, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spain (the Canary Islands), Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is a rare vagrant in the Western Palearctic (which consists of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East), with several sightings in the Canary Islands. Two individual were observed on the island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands in the winter of 2017. Description It is a small bittern, and the same size as the little bittern, to which it is closely related. Conservation It is designated least concern A least-concern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow Bittern
The yellow bittern (''Ixobrychus sinensis'') is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in the northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Alaska and there is a single sighting in Great Britain, from Radipole Lake, Dorset on November 23, 1962 – however, the British Ornithologists' Union has always considered this occurrence to be of uncertain provenance and currently it is not accepted onto the official British List. Taxonomy The yellow bittern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's '' Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the herons, cranes, storks and bitterns in the genus '' Ardea'' and coined the binomial name ''Ardea sinensis''. Gmelin based his description on the "Chinese heron" that had been included by the English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Bittern
The least bittern (''Ixobrychus exilis'') is a small heron, the smallest member of the family Ardeidae found in the Americas. Taxonomy The least bittern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the herons, cranes, storks and bitterns in the genus '' Ardea'' and coined the binomial name ''Ardea exilis''. Gmelin based his description on the "minute bittern" from Jamaica that had been included by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. Latham did not specify how he had obtained the specimen. The least bittern is now one of ten species placed in the genus ''Ixobrychus'' that was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''ixias'', a reed-like plant and ''brukhomai'', to bellow. The specific epithet ''exilis'' is Latin meaning "l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stripe-backed Bittern
The stripe-backed bittern (''Ixobrychus involucris'') is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae which is found in South America and Trinidad. Description The stripe-backed bittern is very small, averaging around in length. It is darker brown with a white and brown striped pattern along the back, and a black stripe from head to tail, while the underbelly is lighter brown and striped with white. This bittern calls through distinct, low-pitched ', or through gargling. Distribution and habitat The stripe-backed bittern is distributed in large patches across South America, located in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the island of Trinidad to the north, and in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Brazil to the south, inhabiting reed-beds and sedge. Behaviour and ecology The stripe-backed bittern is a solitary animal. It generally feeds at night on small fish, crustaceans and insects such as dragonflies and water beetles. It is not a strong flier, and on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinnamon Bittern
The cinnamon bittern (''Ixobrychus cinnamomeus'') or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern, breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. Taxonomy The cinnamon bittern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with herons, cranes, egrets and bitterns in the genus '' Ardea'' and coined the binomial name ''Ardea cinnamomea''. Gmelin based his description on the "Chinese heron" that had been included by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. Latham had based his own description on a partial specimen in the British Museum. The cinnamon bittern is now placed with nine other species in the genus ''Ixobrychus'' that was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg. The genu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Little Bittern
The New Zealand bittern (''Ixobrychus novaezelandiae'') is an extinct and enigmatic species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It was endemic to New Zealand and was last recorded alive in the 1890s. Common names for this species include New Zealand little bittern, spotted heron, and ''kaoriki'' (Māori). The scientific species name also has numerous junior synonyms. Taxonomy The species has sometimes been regarded as a subspecies of little bittern (''Ixobrychus minutus''), or conspecific with the black-backed bittern (''Ixobrychus dubius'') of Australia and New Guinea, though it was first described by Alexander Callender Purdie in 1871 as ''Ardeola novaezelandiae''. In 1980, New Zealand palaeontologist Peter L. Horn found subfossil bones of a bittern from Lake Poukawa, which he named ''Dupetor flavicollis''. In 1991, Philip Millener identified Horn's material as remains of the New Zealand bittern. Description Although a small bittern, the species was larger (length about 14.75 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
%2C_Central_Catchment_Nature_Reserve%2C_Singapore_-_20140327.jpg "Click for more on -> Schrenck's Bittern")
.svg "Click for more on -> Eurasian Bittern - Torrile - Italy 4528 (15409347121)")
_in_flight_in_Kolkata_W.jpg "Click for more on -> Black Bittern")
