600px Atlas logo
Home > BirdFacts > herons > American Bittern

For details point at or click the button; for sources point at the button
American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus   [Rackett, 1813]
Other Names Records Books & Links
Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ardeidae
BTO Codes: AM, AMEBI EURING No: 960
Number in Britain: Fewer than 20 records
Conservation Status:
UK: Not Assessed
European: Not evaluated
Global: Least Concern
Links to: Images   Videos   Sound  

Status in UK: (A)  Accidental
Subspecies: Monotypic
.
Length: 72 cm Wingspan: 42 cm Weight: -    
Scientific name from: ME: botor=bittern (from L.: bos=oxen + taurus=bull) and L.: lentiginosus=freckled (from lentigo=freckle)
World Distribution: BREEDS: local in North America, WINTERS: US south to Panama, Bahamas & Bermuda
Habitat: Reedbed & marshes
Diet: Insects, amphibians, small fish
line
Records and Distribution
First Record: Dorset, 1804
Total Number of Records (1950-2007): 7 Summary of Records by Year
Most Likely to Occur in: September to December
Most Recent County Records:
   Scotland: Argyll (1875), Clyde (1981), Dumfries & Galloway (1873), Highland (1862), Northeast (1854), Outer Hebrides (1932),
   North-east England: North Yorkshire (1882),
   North-west England: Lancashire (1991),
   English Midlands:
   Eastern England: Bedfordshire (1886),
   South-east England: Hampshire (1876), East Sussex (1909), West Sussex (1883),
   South-west England: Cornwall (1999), Devon (1875), Dorset (1980), Somerset (1928), Isles of Scilly (1903),
   Wales: Caernarfonshire (1962), Gwent (1981), Pembrokeshire (1946),

Information provided by BirdGuides and BBRC
line
Other Names
Gaelic: Welsh: Aderyn-bwn America
Danish: Amerikansk rørdrum Dutch: Noordamerikaanse Roerdomp
Finnish: Amerikankaulushaikara French: Butor d'Amérique
German: Nordamerikanische Rohrdommel Hungarian: Amerikai bölömbika
Icelandic: Reyrþvari Irish: Bonnán Meiriceánach
Italian: Tarabuso americano Norwegian: Amerikarørdrum
Polish: Bak amerykanski Portuguese: Abetouro-lentiginoso
Spanish: Avetoro lentiginoso Swedish: Amerikansk rördrom
line
For More Information...
Books and Monographs:
   Voisin, C. 1991 The herons of Europe Poyser, London [598.461 VOI]
   Kushlan, J.A. & Hancock, J. 2005 The Herons Oxford University Press [598.461 KUS]
See Also:
All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Gough, G.A. et al. (1998) Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
Wikipedia entry
Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides.com
Find papers on Google Scholar
Find papers on Scirus

BTO blue divider
BirdWeb logo, click to go to BirdWeb BirdFacts home | BTO Home
Email: birdfacts@bto.org

These data should be cited as:
Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland (v1.24, June 2009). BTO Research Report 407, BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts)

 

© British Trust for Ornithology,
The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK.
Terms and Conditions
| Privacy Statement
Registered Charity Number 216652.


Pages maintained by Iain Downie & Rob Robinson