Little Bittern
Encyclopedia
The 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 Asia, while those nesting in the tropics are sedentary. It is rare north of its breeding range.
; at 27–36 cm in length, 40–58 cm wingspan and 60-150 g weight. The smallest specimens are perhaps the smallest herons on earth. It has a short neck, longish bill and buff underparts. The male's back and crown are black, and the wings are black with a large white patch on each wing. The female has a browner back and a buff-brown wing patch.
:
The Australian Little Bittern
(Ixobrychus dubius) and the extinct New Zealand Little Bittern
(Ixobrychus novaezelandiae) were formerly considered subspecies of the Little Bittern.
) applies.
s are laid. It can be difficult to see, given its skulking lifestyle and reedbed habitat.
These bitterns feed on fish
, insects and amphibian
s.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the heron
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, native to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
, breeding in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, central and southern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, western and southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. Birds from temperate regions in Europe and western Asia are migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering in Africa and further south in Asia, while those nesting in the tropics are sedentary. It is rare north of its breeding range.
Description
It is a very small bitternBittern
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...
; at 27–36 cm in length, 40–58 cm wingspan and 60-150 g weight. The smallest specimens are perhaps the smallest herons on earth. It has a short neck, longish bill and buff underparts. The male's back and crown are black, and the wings are black with a large white patch on each wing. The female has a browner back and a buff-brown wing patch.
Taxonomy
There are three subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
:
- Ixobrychus minutus minutus (Linnaeus, 1766). Europe, Asia, northern Africa; winters in sub-saharan Africa and southern Asia.
- Ixobrychus minutus payesii (Hartlaub, 1858). Sub-saharan Africa, resident.
- Ixobrychus minutus podiceps (Bonaparte, 1855). Madagascar, resident.
The Australian Little Bittern
Australian Little Bittern
The 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) and the extinct New Zealand Little Bittern
New Zealand Little Bittern
The 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) were formerly considered subspecies of the Little Bittern.
Status
The Little Bittern is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWAAEWA
The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds is the largest of its kind developed so far under the Bonn Convention. It was concluded on 16 June 1995 at The Hague, the Netherlands and entered into force on 1 November 1999 after the required number of at least fourteen...
) applies.
Behaviour
The Little Bittern's breeding habitat is reedbeds. It nests on platforms of reeds in shrubs, and 4-8 eggEgg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s are laid. It can be difficult to see, given its skulking lifestyle and reedbed habitat.
These bitterns feed on 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...
, insects and amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s.