{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{For|the salt solution|Bittern (salt)}} {{good article}} {{speciesbox | name = American bittern | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Botaurus lentiginosus'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22697340A93609388 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697340A93609388.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | image = Botaurus_lentiginosus_28079.JPG | genus = Botaurus | species = lentiginosus | authority = ([[Thomas Rackett|Rackett]], 1813) <ref>{{cite web |url=http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=13E9F9B48CD5A08A |title=American Bittern ''Botaurus lentiginosus'' (Rackett, 1813) |author=Lepage, Denis |work=Avibase |access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref> | synonyms = *''Palaeophoyx columbiana'' <small>McCoy, 1963</small> | range_map = Botaurus_lentiginosus_map.svg | range_map_caption = Range of ''B. lentiginosus'' {{leftlegend|#FFFF00|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#008000|Year-round range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#0000FF|Wintering range|outline=gray}} }}
The '''American bittern''' ('''''Botaurus lentiginosus''''') is a [[species]] of wading bird in the heron family. It has a [[Nearctic realm|Nearctic]] distribution, breeding in Canada and the northern and central parts of the United States, and wintering in the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|U.S. Gulf Coast]] states, all of Florida into the [[Everglades]], the Caribbean islands and parts of Central America.
It is a well-camouflaged, solitary brown bird that unobtrusively inhabits marshes and the coarse vegetation at the edge of lakes and ponds. In the breeding season it is chiefly noticeable by the loud, booming call of the male. The nest is built just above the water, usually among [[bulrush]]es and [[Typha latifolia|cattails]], where the female [[Egg incubation|incubates]] the clutch of olive-colored eggs for about four weeks. The young leave the nest after two weeks and are fully fledged at six or seven weeks.
The American bittern feeds mostly on [[fish]] but also eats other small [[vertebrate]]s as well as [[crustacean]]s and [[insect]]s. It is fairly common over its wide range, but its numbers are thought to be decreasing, especially in the south, because of habitat degradation. However the total population is large, and the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has assessed its conservation status as being of "[[Least-concern species|Least Concern]]".
==Description== [[File:American Bittern - Nisqually NWR.jpg|left|thumb|American bittern, feathers puffed, [[Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge]]]]
The American bittern is a large, chunky, brown [[bird]], very similar to the [[Eurasian bittern]] (''Botaurus stellaris''), though slightly smaller, and the plumage is speckled rather than being barred. It is {{convert|58|–|85|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, with a {{convert|92|–|115|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan and a body mass of {{convert|370|-|1072|g|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Bittern/id |title=American Bittern |work=All About Birds |publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |access-date=27 November 2015}}</ref><ref name = "CRC">''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-8493-4258-5}}.</ref>
The crown is chestnut brown with the centers of the feathers being black. The side of the neck has a bluish-black elongated patch which is larger in the male than in the female. The hind neck is olive, and the mantle and scapulars are dark chestnut-brown, barred and speckled with black, some feathers being edged with buff. The back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are similar in color but more finely speckled with black and with grey bases to the feathers. The tail feathers are chestnut brown with speckled edges, and the primaries and secondaries are blackish-brown with buff or chestnut tips. The cheeks are brown with a buff [[Supercilium|superciliary stripe]] and a similarly colored mustachial stripe. The chin is creamy-white with a chestnut central stripe, and the feathers of the throat, breast, and upper belly are buff and rust-colored, finely outlined with black, giving a striped effect to the underparts. The eyes are surrounded by yellowish skin, and the iris is pale yellow. The long, robust bill is yellowish-green, the upper mandible being darker than the lower, and the legs and feet are yellowish-green. Juveniles resemble adults, but the sides of their necks are less olive.<ref name=Witherby>{{cite book |title=Handbook of British Birds, Volume 3: Hawks to Ducks |editor-last=Witherby |editor-first=H. F. |year=1943 |publisher=H. F. and G. Witherby Ltd. |pages=160–162 }}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The American bittern was [[Species description|first described]] in 1813 by the English clergyman [[Thomas Rackett]] from a [[Vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] individual he examined in Dorset, England.<ref name=HBWA/> No extant [[subspecies]] are accepted.<ref name=HBWA/> However, [[fossil]]s found in the [[Ichetucknee River]] in Florida, and originally described as a new form of heron (''Palaeophoyx columbiana'' McCoy, 1963)<ref name=McCoy/> were later recognized to be a smaller, prehistoric subspecies of the American bittern which lived during the Late [[Pleistocene]] (Olson, 1974)<ref name=Olson/> and would thus be called ''B. l. columbianus''. Its closest living relative is the [[pinnated bittern]] (''Botaurus pinnatus'') from Central and South America.<ref name=HBWA/>
The generic name ''Botaurus'' was given by English naturalist [[James Francis Stephens]], and is derived from [[Medieval Latin]] {{lang|la|butaurus}}, "bittern", constructed from the [[Middle English]] name for the Eurasian bittern, {{lang|enm|botor}}.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n75 75], 221}}</ref> [[Natural History (Pliny)|Pliny]] gave a fanciful derivation from {{lang|la|Bos}} (ox) and {{lang|la|taurus}} (bull), because the bittern's call resembles the bellowing of a bull.<ref name = oedbitt>{{cite web| title= Bittern (1)| work= Oxford English Dictionary| url= http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/19574?rskey=Qgen84&result=1#eid | publisher=Oxford University Press | access-date =16 May 2016 }}{{subscription required}}</ref> The species name ''lentiginosus'' is [[Latin]] for "freckled", from ''lentigo'' (freckle), and refers to the speckled [[Feather|plumage]].<ref name=job/>
Many folk names are given for its distinctive call.<ref>{{cite book | title = Folk-names of Canadian Birds | first = Waldo Lee | last = McAtee | year = 1959 | publisher = National Museum of Canada | volume = 51 | series = Bulletin of National Museum of Canada | page = 6}}</ref> In his book on the common names of American birds, Ernest Choate lists "bog bumper" and "stake driver".<ref name=Choate>{{cite book|author=Choate, Ernest Alfred |title=The Dictionary of American Bird Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NysWAQAAIAAJ |year=1985 |publisher=Harvard Common Press |isbn=978-0-87645-117-5}}</ref> Other vernacular names include "thunder pumper", "bog bull",<ref name=Gardner>{{cite book|author1=Gardner, Dana |author2=Overcott, Nancy |title=Fifty Uncommon Birds of the Upper Midwest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLR_o-5JQugC&pg=PA11 |year=2007 |publisher=University of Iowa Press |isbn=978-1-58729-590-4 |page=11}}</ref> "bog thumper", "mire drum", and "water belcher".<ref>Criswell, Rob (2021). "Ghosts of the Marsh". ''Pennsylvania Game News'' '''92''' (6): 14–18.</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== Its range includes much of North America. It breeds in southern Canada as far north as [[British Columbia]], the [[Great Slave Lake]] and [[Hudson Bay]], and in much of the United States and possibly central Mexico. It [[bird migration|migrates]] southward in the fall and overwinters in the southern United States of the Gulf Coast region, most notably in the marshy Everglades of Florida, the Caribbean Islands and Mexico, with past records also coming from Panama and Costa Rica. As a long-distance migrant, it is a very rare vagrant in Europe, including Great Britain and Ireland. It is an aquatic bird and frequents bogs, marshes and the thickly-vegetated verges of shallow-water lakes and ponds, both with fresh and [[Brackish water|brackish]] or saline water. It sometimes feeds out in the open in [[wet meadow]]s and pastures.<ref name=Witherby/><ref name=HBWA>{{cite journal |url=http://www.hbw.com/node/52729 |title=American Bittern (''Botaurus lentiginosus'') |author1=Martínez-Vilalta, A. |author2=Motis, A. |author3=Kirwan, G.M. |editor-first1=Alan F. |editor-last1=Poole |year=2014 |journal=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive |publisher=Lynx Edicions, Barcelona |doi=10.2173/bow.amebit.01 |access-date=28 October 2015|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Behavior== [[File:American-Bittern-01-web.jpg|thumb|American bittern attempting to hide]] [[File:American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) hiding in tall grass.jpg|right|thumb|American bittern (dead center, head extended) hiding in tall grass, [[Wakulla Springs State Park]] ]]
The American bittern is a solitary bird and usually keeps itself well-hidden and is difficult to observe. It usually hunts by walking stealthily in shallow water and among the vegetation, stalking its prey, but sometimes it stands still in [[Ambush predator|ambush]]. If it senses that it has been seen, it remains motionless, with its bill pointed upward, its [[Crypsis|cryptic coloration]] causing it to blend into the surrounding foliage. It is mainly nocturnal and is most active at dusk. More often heard than seen, the male bittern has a loud, booming call that resembles a congested pump and which has been rendered as "oong, kach, oonk".<ref name=HBWA/> While uttering this sound, the bird's head is thrown convulsively upward and then forward, and the sound is repeated up to seven times.<ref name=Witherby/>
The process by which the bittern produces its distinctive sound is not fully understood. It has been suggested that the bird gradually puffs out its neck by inflating its [[esophagus]] with air accompanied by a mild clicking or hiccuping sound. The esophagus is kept inflated by means of flaps beside the tongue. Once this action is completed and the esophagus is fully inflated, the distinctive gulping sound is made in the [[Syrinx (bird anatomy)|syrinx]]. When the sound is finished, the bird deflates its esophagus.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Function of the Oesophagus in the Bittern's Booming |last=Chapin |first=James, P. |year=1922 |publisher=The Auk, Vol XXXIX |page=196 |url=https://archive.org/stream/jstor-4073951/4073951#page/n1/mode/2up }}</ref>
Like other members of the heron family, the American bittern feeds in [[marsh]]es and shallow ponds, preying mainly on fish but also consuming amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, crustaceans and insects. It is a [[Territory (animal)|territorial]] bird and has a threat display which involves slowly erecting long, white, previously-concealed, plumes on its shoulders, to form wing-like extensions that nearly meet across its back, resembling a [[Ruff (clothing)|ruff]]. The bird then stands still in a threatening posture, or stalks the intruder in a crouching position, with its head retracted and a gliding gait.<ref name=Witherby/>
This bird nests solitarily in marshes among coarse vegetation such as [[Scirpus|bulrushes]] and [[Typha latifolia|cattails]], with the female building the nest and the male guarding it. The nest is usually about {{convert|15|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} above the water surface and consists of a rough platform of dead stalks and rushes, sometimes with a few twigs mixed in, and lined with bits of coarse grass. Up to about six eggs are laid and are incubated by the female for twenty-nine days. The eggs are bluntly ovoid in shape, olive-buff and unspeckled, averaging {{convert|49|by|37|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} in size. The chicks are fed individually, each in turn pulling down the female's beak and receiving regurgitated food directly into its beak. They leave the nest at about two weeks and are fully-fledged at six to seven weeks.<ref name=Witherby/>
==Status== The bird's numbers are declining in many parts of its range because of [[habitat loss]]. This is particularly noticeable in the southern part where chemical contamination and human development are reducing the area of suitable habitat.<ref name=Gardner/> However, the bird has an extremely large range and a large total population, and the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has assessed its conservation status as being of "[[least concern]]".<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> The American bittern is protected under the United States [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html |title=List of Migratory Bird Species Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as of December 2, 2013 |work=Migratory Bird Program |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=27 November 2015}}</ref> It is also protected under the Canadian ''[[Migratory Birds Convention Act]]'' of 1917 to which both Canada and the United States are signatories.<ref name=MacDowell>{{cite book|last1=MacDowell |first1=Laurel Sefton |title=An Environmental History of Canada |year=2012 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-2103-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7-803ot3DIC |page=113}}</ref>
==References and notes== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=McCoy>{{cite journal|author=McCoy, John J. |year=1963|title= The fossil avifauna of Itchtucknee <!--sic--> River, Florida|journal=[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]|volume=80|issue=3|pages= 335–351|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v080n03/p0335-p0351.pdf|doi=10.2307/4082892|jstor=4082892}}</ref> <ref name=Olson>{{cite journal|author=Olson, Storrs L. |year=1974|title= A reappraisal of the fossil heron ''Palaeophoyx columbiana'' McCoy|journal=[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]|volume=91|issue=1|pages= 179–180|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v091n01/p0179-p0180.pdf|doi=10.2307/4084689|jstor=4084689}}</ref> }}
==Further reading== * National Geographic Society (2002). ''Field Guide to the Birds of North America''. National Geographic, Washington DC. {{ISBN|0-7922-6877-6}}
==External links== {{Commons}} {{Wikispecies|Botaurus lentiginosus}} * [https://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Bittern.html American Bittern] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology * [https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1900id.html American bittern – ''Botaurus lentiginosus''] – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061129060011/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=BD0108 American Bittern ''Botaurus lentiginosus''] – ENature.com * {{InternetBirdCollection|north-american-bittern-botaurus-lentiginosus|North American Bittern}} * {{VIREO|American+Bittern|American Bittern}}
{{portalbar|Animals|North America}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q743017}}
[[Category:Bitterns]] [[Category:Botaurus]] [[Category:Birds of North America]] [[Category:Birds described in 1813]] [[Category:Taxa named by Thomas Rackett]] [[Category:Least concern biota of the United States]]