Pinnated bittern | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Pelecaniformes |
Family: | Ardeidae |
Genus: | Botaurus |
Species: | B. pinnatus |
Binomial name | |
Botaurus pinnatus (Wagler, 1829) | |
Synonyms | |
Ardea pinnataWagler, 1829 |
The pinnated bittern (Botaurus pinnatus), 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 pinnated bittern is a large heron, measuring between 25–30 in (64–76 cm) [2] with a weight that ranges from 554 to 1,157 g (1.2 to 2.6 lb); males typically weigh considerably more than females. [3] Sexes are similarly plumaged, but females tend to be smaller than males and have brown instead of black on the tail. [4]
Both adults and immature birds are generally buffy, though heavily marked with cryptic patterning. Juveniles tend to have a somewhat more reddish ground color. The throat is unmarked white, the foreneck is white broadly streaked with pale brown, and the rest of the neck is buff with thin black barring. The breast and belly are white with broad pale brown streaks, while the back is buff, heavily streaked and barred with black. Rectrices are black in males and brown in females; the slate-grey remiges create a conspicuous two-toned effect in flight.
The bill is stout and strong, yellowish overall with a dusky upper mandible. The bare facial skin is bright yellow, with a brown line running across the lores. The legs are greenish-yellow, and the iris is yellow.
If flushed, the pinnated bittern gives a rough rawk-rawk-rawk call. During the breeding season, the male booms at dusk and into the night; his call is a deep poonk or poonkoo. [5]
German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler, who first described the pinnated bittern in 1829, placed it in the genus Ardea at that time. It is sometimes included in a superspecies with the American bittern (B. lentiginosus), while other authors consider the entire genus Botaurus to consist of a single superspecies. [4]
There are currently two recognized subspecies, which are separated by a gap in Central America: [4]
The alternate name "South American bittern" is a bit misleading, as the species is found as far north as southern Mexico. Its range stretches from the Atlantic slope of southeastern Mexico to northern Argentina, though there are few records for Guatemala and Honduras. The species occurs mainly in low-lying regions, but has been recorded in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia as much as 8,500 ft (2,600 m) ASL. [6]
It can be found in a variety of freshwater habitats, including dense reed beds and lake borders, flooded tall-grass pastures, marshes and overgrown ditches. Typically, the vegetation in its habitat is dominated by tall sedges (Cyperaceae), water hyacinth (Eichornia), rushes (Juncus), typical reeds (Phragmites) or cattails (Typha). It will also utilize plantations of rice (Oryza) and sugarcane (Saccharum). [4]
The pinnated bittern is largely nocturnal. Though generally solitary, it will gather in small loose groups at favored feeding areas. When frightened, it tends to freeze with its body crouched low and its head raised vertically just high enough to see. It typically flushes only at close range.
Estimates of its population, and of overall population trends, are unknown. Due to its wide range, it is nonetheless regarded a species of Least Concern by the IUCN. [7]
Its diet is varied, [4] consisting of fish (including eels), reptiles, amphibians, chicks, arthropods, molluscs, worms (including leeches) [8] and small mammals (even including young common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus [9] ), all of which are typically taken in ambush. [5] The pinnated bittern is a patient hunter, often standing motionless for long periods while waiting for prey to move within range.
As typical for Botaurinae (but unlike most herons), the pinnated bittern is a solitary breeder. Its nest, a platform or shallow cup of rush stems or other plant material, is typically built among thick vegetation not far above the water surface. The female lays two to three olive-brown eggs, and is thought to do all of the incubation. Pinnated bitterns are almost exclusively wet season breeders. [10]
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.
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race breeding in parts of Europe and across the Palearctic, as well as on the northern coast of Africa, while the southern race is endemic to parts of southern Africa. It is a secretive bird, seldom seen in the open as it prefers to skulk in reed beds and thick vegetation near water bodies. Its presence is apparent in the spring, when the booming call of the male during the breeding season can be heard. It feeds on fish, small mammals, fledgling birds, amphibians, crustaceans and insects.
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 medium egret, median egret, smaller egret or intermediate egret, is a medium-sized heron. Some taxonomists put the species in the genus Egretta or Mesophoyx. It is a resident breeder in southern and eastern Asia.
The least bittern is a small heron, the smallest member of the family Ardeidae found in the Americas.
The common potoo, or poor-me-ones, or urutau is one of seven species of birds within the genus Nyctibius. It is notable for its large, yellow eyes and a wide mouth. Potoos are nocturnal and are related to nightjars and frogmouths. They lack the characteristic bristles around the mouths of true nightjars.
The yellow-bellied elaenia is a small bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula through Central and South America as far as northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago.
The rufous-breasted wren is a small songbird of the family Troglodytidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
Gorsachius is a genus of Old World night herons typically found near water in forested regions. These are medium-sized herons which are migratory in the colder parts of their ranges, but otherwise resident. They are the least known, most strictly nocturnal, smallest and overall rarest night herons.
Butorides is a genus of small herons. It contains three similar species, the green heron or green-backed heron, Butorides virescens, the lava heron, and the striated heron, Butorides striatus. A fossil species, Butorides validipes, is known from the Early Pleistocene of Florida in the United States. Butorides is from Middle English Butor "bittern" and Ancient Greek -oides, "resembling".
The social flycatcher is a passerine bird from the Americas, a member of the large tyrant flycatcher family (Tyrannidae).
The bare-throated tiger heron is a wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, found from Mexico to northwestern Colombia, with one recorded sighting from the United States in Hidalgo County, Texas. It is 80 cm (31 in) in length and weighs 1,200 g (42 oz).
The brown violetear is a large hummingbird that breeds at middle elevations in the mountains in Central America, and western and northern South America with isolated populations on Trinidad and in the Brazilian state Bahia.
The tropical gnatcatcher is a small active insectivorous songbird, which is a resident species throughout a large part of northern South America. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the white-browed gnatcatcher.
The squirrel cuckoo is a large and active species of cuckoo found in wooded habitats from northwestern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and on Trinidad. Some authorities have split off the western Mexican form as the Mexican squirrel-cuckoo.
The streak-breasted treehunter is a passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.
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 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 short-tailed hawk is an American bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles and Old World vultures. As a member of the genus Buteo, it is not a true hawk and thus also referred to as a "buteo" or "buzzard". The white-throated hawk is a close relative and was formerly included in the species B. brachyurus.