Ixobrychus | |
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Little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Pelecaniformes |
Family: | Ardeidae |
Subfamily: | Botaurinae |
Genus: | Ixobrychus Billberg, 1828 |
Type species | |
Ardea minuta Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Species | |
See text. |
Ixobrychus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae. It has a single representative species in each of North America, South America, Eurasia, and Australasia. The tropical species are largely resident, but the two northern species are partially migratory, with many birds moving south to warmer areas in winter.
The species of the genus Ixobrychus are all small, with their four larger relatives being in the genus Botaurus . They breed in large reedbeds, and can often be difficult to observe except for occasional flight views due to their secretive behaviour. Like other bitterns, they eat fish, frogs, and similar aquatic life.
The genus Ixobrychus was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg who listed two members of the genus but did not specify the type species. [1] This was designated as the little bittern by Witmer Stone in 1907. [2] [3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow. [4]
The genus contains ten species This includes the New Zealand bittern which is now extinct. [5]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
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I. minutus | Little bittern | Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar | |
I. dubius | Black-backed bittern | Australia and southern New Guinea | |
I. cinnamomeus | Cinnamon bittern | tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia | |
I. involucris | Stripe-backed bittern | Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the island of Trinidad, and in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Brazil | |
I. exilis | Least bittern | southern Canada to northern Argentina | |
I. sinensis | Yellow bittern | northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia. | |
I. eurhythmus | Von Schrenck's bittern | Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, China and Siberia | |
I. sturmii | 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 | |
I. flavicollis | Black bittern | tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia | |
The New Zealand bittern (Ixobrychus novaezelandiae) is extinct.
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.
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus 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 or common little bittern is a wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. Ixobrychus is from Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai 'to bellow', and minutus is Latin for 'small'.
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.
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.
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.
Botaurus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae. The genus name Botaurus was given by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens, and is derived from Medieval Latin butaurus, "bittern", itself constructed from the Middle English name for the Eurasian Bittern, Botor. Pliny gave a fanciful derivation from Bos (ox) and taurus (bull), because the bittern's call resembles the bellowing of a bull.
The least bittern is a small heron, the smallest member of the family Ardeidae found in the Americas.
Nycticorax is a genus of night herons. The name Nycticorax means "night raven" and derives from the Ancient Greek νύκτος, nuktos "night" and κοραξ, korax, "raven". It refers to the largely nocturnal feeding habits of this group of birds, and the croaking crow-like call of the best known species, the black-crowned night heron.
Tyto is a genus of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl family, Tytonidae.
Ardea is a genus of herons. These herons are generally large in size, typically 80–100 cm or more in length.
The Rodrigues night heron is an extinct species of heron that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean. The species was first mentioned as "bitterns" in two accounts from 1691–1693 and 1725–1726, and these were correlated with subfossil remains found and described in the latter part of the 19th century. The bones showed that the bird was a heron, first named Ardea megacephala in 1873, but moved to the night heron genus Nycticorax in 1879 after more remains were described. The specific name megacephala is Greek for "great-headed". Two related extinct species from the other Mascarene islands have also been identified from accounts and remains: the Mauritius night heron and the Réunion night heron.
The Réunion night heron is an extinct species of heron formerly occurring on the Mascarene island of Réunion.
The terrestrial fauna of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is unsurprisingly depauperate, because of the small land area of the islands, their lack of diverse habitats, and their isolation from large land-masses. However, the fauna dependent on marine resources is much richer.
The stripe-backed bittern is a bird species belonging to the family Ardeidae, which includes Herons, Egrets and Bitterns. 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.
The zigzag heron is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae, also including egrets and bitterns. It is in the monotypic genus Zebrilus. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical swamps.
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.
Pogonornis is a genus of African barbets from the family Lybiidae. This genus ranges across sub-Saharan Africa.