Least Bittern

Least Bittern male, breeding plumage

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Least Bittern, female

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A tiny heron, furtive and surpassingly well camouflaged, the Least Bittern is one of the most difficult North American marsh birds to spot. Despite its inconspicuousness, however, the species can be rather common within appropriate habitat in its breeding range.

Description

• Tiny heron.
• Long neck.
• Long bill.
• Crown and back black or dark brownish.
• Neck and sides warm orange-brown.
• Front of neck and chest striped orange and white.

• Size: 28-36 cm (11-14 in)
• Wingspan: 41-46 cm (16-18 in)
• Weight: 51-102 g (1.8-3.6 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but females have more muted colors, especially in the black on the mantle and crown.

Sound

Song a low "coo-coo-coo." Contact call is flat and quack-like.

Conservation Status

Difficult to survey, so few data available. Loss of wetland habitat and the encroachment of exotic species of marsh vegetation may pose a threat.

Other Names

Blongios minute, Petit Blongios, Petit Butor (French)
Ardeola, Garza enana, Garcilla (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Thanks to its habit of straddling reeds, the Least Bittern can feed in water that would be too deep for the wading strategy of other herons.

• When alarmed, the Least Bittern freezes in place with its bill pointing up, turns its front and both eyes toward the source of alarm, and sometimes sways to resemble wind-blown marsh vegetation.

• The Least Bittern and the American Bittern often occupy the same wetlands, but may have relatively little interaction because of differences in foraging habits, preferred prey, and timing of breeding cycles. The Least Bittern arrives on its breeding grounds about a month after the American Bittern, and leaves one or two months earlier.

• John James Audubon noted that a young captive Least Bittern was able to walk with ease between two books standing 1.5 inches (4 cm) apart. When dead, the bird's body measured 2.25 inches (5.7 cm) across, indicating that it could compress its breadth to an extraordinary degree.

Sources used to construct this page:

1. Audubon, J. J. 1840. Birds of North America. First Octavo Edition.
2. Gibbs, J. P., F. A. Reid, and S. M. Melvin. Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis). In The Birds of North America, No. 17 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.