Yellow Bittern
Botaurus sinensis
Very small heron of marshy, well-vegetated water bodies. Adult pale orangish brown or yellow, depending on the light, with a narrow dark cap. Juvenile darker above with pale feather edges. Can be inconspicuous in dense vegetation, but frequently makes short flights; on flying birds, note dark flight feathers contrasting with pale yellowish wing coverts. Typically quiet, but occasionally gives harsh grating calls when flushed.
Identification
The yellow bittern is a small species at 36 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) in length, with a short neck and longish bill. It has yellow green legs, an ivory bill (darker on top), a short black tail and yellow irises. The male of the species has a dark cap, chestnut head and neck, with a uniformly dull yellow body above and buff below. The female's cap, neck and breast are streaked, with a rufous hindneck and upper back and streaked dark red brown and buff under parts. The juveniles of the species resemble the female but is more boldly streaked, brown on its head and back, and mottled with buff above.
Taxonomy
The yellow bittern was formally described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of 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 ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham based his description on a collection of Chinese drawings. The yellow 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 sinensis is Modern Latin meaning "China". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Botaurus sinensis
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
- Genus
- Botaurus
Range and habitat
Yellow bittern's are found in fresh water marshes and swamps. It nests in small constructed platforms of reeds or twigs in the vegetation of reed beds or in trees and shrubs adjacent to or above water. They lay four to six pale blue-green eggs.
- Breeding range
- PAL, IO, OR : Oman, Inner Is. (ne Seychelles), Pakistan and Sri Lanka through se Russia and Japan s to se Asia, Indonesian Arch., Philippines to w Micronesia
- Non-breeding range
- To s India, Andaman and Nicobar is. and Bismarck Arch.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Yellow bitterns feed on a variety of insects, fish, amphibians, crustaceans and molluscs.
Conservation
The yellow bittern is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Paddyfield Pipit
Anthus rufulus
A sparrow-sized, resident pipit with brown plumage that varies in tones in different parts of its range. All birds have a bi-colored bill with a curve to the tip of the upper bill. The breast is streaked and the upperparts have variable amounts of streaking. Juveniles show distinct and dark mottling on the upperparts. It is common in open habitats such as wetlands, farms, fields, and even large parks. Very similar to Blyth’s and Richard’s Pipits, but relatively compact and has a more distinct eyebrow, fainter or no streaking on the back of the neck, a larger head, and a shorter tail than either Blyth’s or Richard’s. Calls include short “tsip” and “tissip” notes.
Cream-winged Cinclodes
Cinclodes albiventris
Fairly common in the high Andes, where found at bogs, lakeshores, along streams, in agricultural areas of villages, usually near water. Feeds on the ground with a hopping and shuffling gait, sometimes cocking tail. Often in same areas as similar but larger and less numerous White-winged Cinclodes. Cream-winged is distinguished by duller brown (less rusty) upperparts, pale buffy tail corners (bold white on White-winged), and narrower white wing stripe shown in raised wing song display.
MacGillivray's Prion
Pachyptila macgillivrayi
A pale powder-blue-and-white seabird with a faint grayish dark “M” across the upperwings. Note the dark blue “thumb mark” collar, the blue eye-stripe, the white eyebrow, the white throat, and the grayish cap. Restricted to two known breeding islands, Saint Paul in the South Indian Ocean, and Gough in the South Atlantic. Almost identical to Antarctic Prion, but bulkier and more heavy-chested, with a slightly wider bill. All but inseparable from Salvin’s Prion, with which it shares the breeding island of Gough, and with which it was once considered one species; MacGillivray’s is incrementally broader-billed, but birds seen at sea may not be identifiable.
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