Little Bittern
Botaurus minutus
Uncommon to locally fairly common but secretive and easily overlooked. Favors fresh marshes and wetlands with reed beds, where clambers high in reeds as well as feeding low along edges. Most likely to be seen in flight, early or late in the day, low over reed beds. Very small for a heron, and rich buffy overall with black cap. Big pale panel on upperwing visible in flight; male has dark back, female back streaked.
识别特征
The little bittern has a length of 33–38 centimetres (13–15 in) and a wing span of 52–58 centimetres (20–23 in). It is the smallest of the breeding herons of Europe and is characterised by its tiny size, long and sharp bill and thick neck. The males are distinctively patterned and both sexes show pale forewing panels. The males have black with a faint green sheen on the crown, nape, back, tail and scapulars. The underparts are pale buff and the wing has a pinkish buff oval shaped panel which contrasts with the otherwise black wings and is formed by the inner wing coverts. The underwing is completely whiteish in colour. The female is duller than the male and has brownish black upperparts with paler feather margins visible at close range. The underparts of the female are not as clean as those of the male and are streaked with dark buff and brown. The female's wing panel is less obvious than the male's. The juveniles are duller and more rufous than the females and are more heavily streaked on both their upperparts and underparts, including their wing coverts.
分类信息
Carl Linnaeus described the little bittern in 1766. Member of a cosmopolitan superspecies with I. exilis (North and South America), I. sinensis (Asia) and I. dubius (New Guinea, AUS). I. [m.] minutus itself consists of three clearly differentiated subspecies (groups) to which all-species status could be assigned:<p>The Australian little bittern (I. dubius) and the extinct New Zealand little bittern (I. novaezelandiae) were formerly considered subspecies of the little bittern.<p>Comparative studies, especially on shouting / courtship behavior and genetics, are lacking.
- 学名
- Botaurus minutus
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- 目
- Pelecaniformes
- 科
- Ardeidae
- 属
- Botaurus
分布与栖息地
The little bittern is 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.<p>In Britain there were intermittent reports of breeding in the nineteenth century, and again in 1946 and 1957, but none of these records were proven. The first proven British breeding record is from Yorkshire in 1984, and the second from the Avalon Marshes in Somerset in 2010, by 2017 this species had been present in this area for nine consecutive years.
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
保护状况
Population trend: declining.
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Squacco Heron
Ardeola ralloides
Small stout heron; favors freshwater marshes, lakes, and ponds with reeds and other surrounding vegetation. Tends to hunt rather sluggishly, hunched quietly at the edge of the water. At rest, appears buffy brown overall, but in flight transforms to mostly white when white wings and tail are revealed. Breeding adult has a rich buffy neck; nonbreeding and immature have a streaked neck.
Zenker's Honeyguide
Melignomon zenkeri
An infrequently encountered honeyguide of forests and forest edge. Overall olive-green to green in coloration, with upperparts darker than underparts and the brightest green in the wings. Vent is pale with hints of streaking, and tail has white outer feathers with dark tips. Similar to Cassin’s Honeyguide, but note Zenker’s larger bill, larger size, darker throat, and dark-tipped tail. Overlaps locally with Yellow-footed Honeyguide in Cameroon, but Zenker’s Honeyguide has duskier legs and a darker throat, and where the two overlap, Zenker’s is often found at lower elevations. Vocalizations are little known, but the song apparently consists of repeated typical honeyguide “tjee” notes that slowly rise in pitch before peaking and gradually descending in pitch, given at a rate of 1-2 notes per second for up to 20 seconds.
Orange-breasted Bunting
Passerina leclancherii
Beautiful small bunting of lowlands and foothills; endemic to west Mexico. Occurs in brushy woodland and edge, adjacent weedy fields, and open grassy areas. Often in small groups, feeding on roadside grasses and flushing up with brilliant blue flashes. Also feeds at all levels in fruiting trees and bushes. Male unmistakable: electric turquoise blue and green above; rich yellow below with a burnished orange breast. Female duller overall: greenish above and yellow below, with a bluish tail. Female brighter yellowish below than slightly larger female Painted Bunting.
开始您的观鸟之旅
在户外识别鸟类，并在下一次观察时随手查阅鸟类图鉴。