| Botaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Subfamily: | Botaurinae |
| Genus: | Botaurus Stephens, 1819 |
| Type species | |
| Ardea stellaris Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Synonyms | |
Ixobrychus Billberg, 1828 | |
Botaurus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading birds in the heron family Ardeidae. The genus includes species that were previously placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The genus Botaurus was introduced in 1819 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens. [1] Stephens did not specify the type species but this was designated as Ardea stellaris Linnaeus (Eurasian bittern) by George Gray in 1840. [2] [3] The name Botaurus is Medieval Latin for a bittern. The word combines Latin bos meaning "oxen" (compare butire "to boom") and taurus meaning "bull". [4] In describing the Eurasian bittern Stephens wrote: "At this period the male makes a singular noise, which is compared with the deep bellowing of a bull, and is continued for about two months: ...". [1] [5]
The genus formerly contained fewer species. Molecular genetic studies found that the genus Ixobrychus was paraphyletic with respect to Botaurus. [6] [7] To resolve the non-monophyly the genus Ixobrychus was merged into Botaurus which has priority. [8] [9]
The bitterns are large chunky, heavily streaked brown birds which breed in large reed beds. Almost uniquely for predatory birds, the female rears the young alone. [10] They are secretive and well-camouflaged, and despite their size they can be difficult to observe except for occasional flight views. They eat fish, frogs, and similar aquatic life. [11]
The genus contains 14 species, this includes the New Zealand bittern which is now extinct. [9]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Botaurus stellaris | Eurasian bittern |  Europe and Asia from the British Isles, Sweden and Finland eastwards to Sakhalin Island in eastern Siberia and Hokkaido Island in Japan |
 | Botaurus poiciloptilus | Australasian bittern |  Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Ouvea |
 | Botaurus lentiginosus | American bittern |  the U.S. Gulf Coast states, all of Florida into the Everglades, the Caribbean islands and parts of Central America |
 | Botaurus pinnatus | Pinnated bittern or South American bittern |  Mexico to northern Argentina, though there are few records for Guatemala and Honduras |
 | Botaurus involucris (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Stripe-backed bittern |  Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the island of Trinidad, and in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Brazil |
 | Botaurus exilis (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Least bittern |  southern Canada to northern Argentina |
 | Botaurus flavicollis (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Black bittern |  tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia |
 | Botaurus cinnamomeus (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Cinnamon bittern |  tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia |
 | Botaurus eurhythmus (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Von Schrenck's bittern |  Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, China and Siberia |
 | Botaurus sturmii (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Dwarf bittern |  Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spain (the Canary Islands), Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe |
 | Botaurus minutus (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Little bittern |  Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar |
 | Botaurus sinensis (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Yellow bittern |  northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia. |
 | Botaurus dubius (formerly placed in Ixobrychus) | Black-backed bittern |  Australia and southern New Guinea |
The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally—but erroneously—defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such names as totipalmates or steganopodes. Most have a bare throat patch, and the nostrils have evolved into dysfunctional slits, forcing them to breathe through their mouths. They also have a pectinate nail on their longest toe. This is shaped like a comb and is used to brush out and separate their feathers. They feed on fish, squid, or similar marine life. Nesting is colonial, but individual birds are monogamous. The young are altricial, hatching from the egg helpless and naked in most. They lack a brood patch.
The American bittern is a species of wading bird in the heron family. It has a Nearctic distribution, breeding in Canada and the northern and central parts of the United States, and wintering in the U.S. Gulf Coast states, all of Florida into the Everglades, the Caribbean islands and parts of Central America.
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called hæferblæte and various iterations of raredumla in Old English; the word "bittern" came to English from Old French butor, itself from Gallo-Roman butitaurus, a compound of Latin būtiō (buzzard) and taurus (bull).
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 74 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus Botaurus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks.
The little bittern is a wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The cinnamon bittern or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern, breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The yellow bittern is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in the northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Alaska and there is a single sighting in Great Britain, from Radipole Lake, Dorset on November 23, 1962 – however, the British Ornithologists' Union has always considered this occurrence to be of uncertain provenance and currently it is not accepted onto the official British List. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The black bittern 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.
The least bittern is a small heron, the smallest member of the family Ardeidae found in the Americas. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
Butorides is a genus of small herons. It contains three similar species, the striated heron Butorides striatus, the lava heron Butorides sundevalli, and the green heron Butorides virescens. They are closely related, and some authorities have considered them all to be subspecies of just one species; when treated so, the merged species is called green-backed heron. The name Butorides derives from Middle English Butor ("bittern") and the Ancient Greek suffix -oides, "resembling".
Von Schrenck's bittern or Schrenck's bittern 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.
The whistling heron is a medium-sized, often terrestrial heron of South America. It is the only species placed in the genus Syrigma. There are two subspecies, the southern S. s. sibilatrix and the northern S. s. fostersmithi.
The pinnated bittern, also known as the South American bittern, is a large member of the heron family (Ardeidae) found in the New World tropics. Like the other Botaurus bitterns, its plumage is mostly buffy-brown and cryptically patterned. Though it is a widespread species, it is rarely seen – presumably due to its skulking habits – and much about its life history remains little known.
The white-backed night heron is a species of medium-sized heron in the family Ardeidae, found in sub-Saharan Africa.
The stripe-backed bittern is a South American bird species belonging to the family Ardeidae, which includes Herons, Egrets and Bitterns. It was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus. Commonly found near freshwater swamps, marshes, lake shores and streams, stripe-backed bitterns span over a wide distribution that divides into the northern and southern populations, spanning on both sides of the Andes. Although increasingly recognized and researched worldwide, much life history details are lacking concerning this species, which remains understudied compared to its similar looking sister clade, including the least bittern.
The New Zealand bittern is an extinct and enigmatic species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It was endemic to New Zealand and was last recorded alive in the 1890s.
The dwarf bittern is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae that is widely distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa avoiding only the very arid regions. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
The capped heron is a water bird endemic to the neotropics, inhabiting rainforest from the center of Panama to the south of Brazil. It is the only species of the genus Pilherodius, and one of the least known of the heron family, Ardeidae. It is superficially similar to the group of the night herons, but is active during daytime or at twilight.
The black-backed bittern, also known as the black-backed least bittern or Australian little bittern, is a little-known species of heron in the family Ardeidae found in Australia and vagrant to southern New Guinea. Formerly lumped with the little bittern, it is one of the smallest herons in the world. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
Tigriornithinae is a subfamily of the heron family Ardeidae that contains the tiger herons.
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