Black Bittern
Botaurus flavicollis
Medium-sized heron of forested and vegetated wetlands, ponds, and lakes. All ages and plumages have dark upperparts and orange, yellow, and reddish striping on the neck and breast. Female and immature average browner with weaker contrast than males. Typically hides and hunts in vegetation similar to other bitterns but occasionally perches visibly on trees and bushes.
Identification
It is a fairly large species at 58 cm (23 in) 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.
Taxonomy
Genus: Botaurus; Family: Ardeidae; Order: Pelecaniformes.
- Scientific name
- Botaurus flavicollis
- Authority
- (Latham, 1790)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
- Genus
- Botaurus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Unique blackish ibis with a bare red face and throat. Long quills form a raggedy mane. Short legs do not project beyond the tail in flight. Breeds in colonies on cliff ledges in semidesert regions; forages in open dry habitats. Critically Endangered with most remaining birds in Morocco; migratory eastern populations in Syria and Turkey all but extinct. Historically bred in central and southern Europe and plans for reintroduction are moving forward.
Hudsonian Godwit
Limosa haemastica
The smallest godwit, overall rather dark. Long upturned bill, red at the base with a black tip. Breeding male shows rich rufous belly and messy black, gray, and white pattern on back. Female duller. Nonbreeding birds are overall plain gray, but juveniles have more cinnamon tones. Note white eyebrow in all plumages. Most distinctive field mark is black underwing, only seen in flight. Breeds on grassy tundra in Canada and Alaska, winters in southern South America. In migration, found in flooded fields, beaches, mudflats, and shallow marshy pools, sometimes in mixed flocks with Willet or yellowlegs.
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Plain gray plump songbird with dark tail, white wingbar, and a small forward-curving crest. In flight, shows prominent pale tail tips. Bill short and chunky, darker in adult, paler in juvenile. Note range in arid inland eastern Australia focused on the Lake Eyre Basin. Essentially identical to Chiming Wedgebill except for its voice. Song comprised of one or two quick notes followed by a rapid descending trill "(chit-)chit cheeeeeeeeeer," repeated frequently.
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