Black bittern explained

The black bittern (Botaurus flavicollis) is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.

Taxonomy

The black bittern was formally described in 1790 by the English ornithologist John Latham under the binomial name Ardea flavicollis. He used the English name "yellow-necked heron" and specified the type locality as India.[1] [2] The black bittern was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus but when a molecular phylogenetic study of the heron family Ardeidae published in 2023 found that Ixobrychus was paraphyletic, Ixobrychus was merged into the genus Botaurus that had been introduced in 1819 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens.[3] [4] [5] The genus name Botaurus is Medieval Latin for a bittern. The specific epithet flavicollis combines Latin flavidus meaning "yellowish" with Modern Latin -collis meaning "-throated".[6]

Three subspecies are recognised:[4]

Description

It is a medium sized bittern at in length. It has dark upperparts with a dark bill. The male is black above with buff neck sides and with a neck is heavily streaked with brown. The female is dark brown rather than black. The juvenile is like the female but paler. 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.[7]

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Their breeding habitat is reed beds. They nest on platforms of reeds in shrubs, or sometimes in trees. Three to five eggs are laid. The chicks are covered with white down with brown patches. They first wander from their nest when aged around 15 days.[8]

Food and feeding

Black bitterns feed on frogs, fish up to 15cm in length, crustacea and insects. They are crepuscular and nocturnal, mainly feeding at dusk and at dawk.[8]

Conservation status

Australia

Black bitterns are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. In the state of State of Victoria, Australia, the black bittern is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988).[9] Under this act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has not yet been prepared.[10] On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the black bittern is listed as vulnerable.[11]

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Latham, John . John Latham (ornithologist) . 1790 . Index Ornithologicus, Sive Systema Ornithologiae: Complectens Avium Divisionem In Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Ipsarumque Varietates . 2 . Latin . London . Leigh & Sotheby . 701 .
  2. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Cottrell . G. William . 1979 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 1 . 2nd . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 241-242 .
  3. Hruska . J.P. . Holmes . J. . Oliveros . C. . Shakya . S. . Lavretsky . P. . McCracken . K.G. . Sheldon . F.H. . Moyle . R.G. . 2023 . Ultraconserved elements resolve the phylogeny and corroborate patterns of molecular rate variation in herons (Aves: Ardeidae) . Ornithology . ukad005 . 10.1093/ornithology/ukad005.
  4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 20 August 2024 .
  5. Chesser . R.T. . Billerman . S.M. . Burns . K.J. . Cicero . C. . Dunn . J.L. . Hernández-Baños . B.E. . Jiménez . R.A. . Johnson . O. . Kratter . A.W. . Mason . N.A. . Rasmussen . P.C. . Remsen . J.V.J. . 2024 . Sixty-fifth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds . Ornithology . 141 . 3 . ukae019 . 10.1093/ornithology/ukae019 . free .
  6. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 75, 161.
  7. Book: Rasmussen . Pamela C. . Pamela C. Rasmussen . Anderton . John C. . 2012 . Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide . 2: Attributes and Status . 2nd . Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Lynx Edicions . Washington D.C. and Barcelona . 978-84-96553-87-3 . 62 .
  8. Book: Martínez-Vilalta . A. . Motis . A. . 1992 . Family Ardeida (Herons) . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Handbook of the Cornel . 1: Ostrich to Ducks . Barcelona, Spain . Lynx Edicions . 84-87334-10-5 . 376–429 [427] . https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/427/mode/1up . registration .
  9. http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/EADA0F1874AF9CF24A2567C1001020A388BBA5581CF9D859CA256BB300271BDB Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
  10. http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/617768308BCB666E4A25684E00192281E7A24BB36FF60A144A256DEA00244294 Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
  11. Book: Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment . Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2007 . Department of Sustainability and Environment . 2007 . East Melbourne, Victoria . 15 . 978-1-74208-039-0 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Black bittern".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.