Von Schrenck's bittern explained

Von Schrenck's bittern or Schrenck's bittern (Botaurus eurhythmus) is a small bittern named after Leopold von Schrenck, the 19th-century Russian zoologist. It breeds in southeast Siberia, east China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It winters from the Malay Peninsula to the Greater Sunda Islands, Sulawesi and the Philippines. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.

Taxonomy

Von Schrenck's bittern was formally described in 1873 by the English naturalist Robert Swinhoe under the binomial name Ardetta eurhythma. He designated the type locality as the Amor (Xiamen) and Shanghai regions of China.^{[1] [2]} Swinhoe realised that the species had been illustrated in a book by the Russian zoologist Leopold von Schrenck published in 1858. Von Schrenck had encountered the bird in the Amur river basin of eastern Russia and had believed it was a cinnamon bittern.^{[1] [3]} Von Schrenck's bittern was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus. A molecular phylogenetic study of the heron family Ardeidae published in 2023 found that Ixobrychus was paraphyletic. To create monophyletic genera, Ixobrychus was merged into the genus Botaurus that had been introduced in 1819 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens.^{[4] [5] [6]} The genus name Botaurus is Medieval Latin for a bittern. The specific epithet eurhythmus is from Ancient Greek eurhuthmos meaning "graceful" or "well-proportioned".^[7] The species is treated as monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.^[5]

Description

The male is uniformly chestnut above, and buff below and on the wing covert feathers. The female and juvenile are chestnut all over with white speckles above, and white streaks below. When in flight, it shows black flight feathers and tail.^[8] It is a small species at in length, with a short neck, longish yellow beak and yellow legs.^[8]

Distribution and habitat

It breeds in China and Siberia from March to July, and Japan from May to August. It winters in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, passing through the rest of Southeast Asia. It is an exceptionally rare vagrant as far west as Europe, with a single sighting in Italy in 1912.

Behaviour and ecology

Von Schrenck's bittern breeds in reed beds and tends to emerge at dusk to forage for prey.^[9]

Conservation

Widespread throughout its large range, Von Schrenck's bittern has been assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.

External links

• Web site: BirdLife International . 2021 . Species factsheet: Ixobrychus eurhythmus .

Notes and References

1. Swinhoe . Robert . Robert Swinhoe . 1873 . On a new species of little bittern from China . Ibis . 73-74, Plate 2 .
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 .
3. Book: Von Schrenck, Leopold . Leopold von Schrenck . Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande in den Jahren 1854-1856 . 1 . German . St. Petersburg . Commissionäre der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften . Plate 13, fig. 3 .
4. 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.
5. 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 .
6. 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 .
7. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 153, 155.
8. Web site: Martínez-Vilalta . A. . Motis . A. . Kirwan . G.M. . Bonan . A. . Hansasuta . C. . 2024 . Schrenck's Bittern (Ixobrychus eurhythmus), version 1.1 . Sly . N.D. . Birds of the World . Ithaca, NY, USA . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 21 August 2024 . subscription .
9. 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 [426] . https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/426/mode/1up . registration .