From Opus

Revision as of 19:39, 12 December 2009

Photo by Steve Garvie
Location: S'Albufera de Mallorca

Ixobrychus minutus

Includes: Australian Bittern

Identification

27-36 cm in length, 40-58 cm wingspan and 60-150 g weight.
Buff underparts, black back and crown, wings are black with a large white patch on each wing.
The female has a browner back and a buff-brown wing patch.

Distribution

Female
Photo by john-henry
Lesvos, Greece, May 2004

Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Australasia.
Europe: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Faroe Islands, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Madeira, Spain, Ibiza, Mallorca, Canary Islands, Monaco, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Crete, Corfu, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine
Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola

Subspecies dubius
Photo by Tom Tarrant
Brisbane, Australia

Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Swaziland
African Islands: Cape Verde, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Sao Tome, Principe, Madagascar
Middle East: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
Asia: Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas
Australasia: Papua New Guinea, New Guinea, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia

Taxonomy

Photo by Bonnán
Ayia Reservoir, Crete, October 2008

There are four subspecies

Subspecies^[1]

• I. m. minutus:

• Central and southern Europe to Siberia; North Africa

• I. m. payesii:

• Africa south of the Sahara

• I. m. podiceps:

• Madagascar

• I. m. dubius:

• South-western and eastern Australia and New Guinea

Some authorities have considered the Australian Little Bittern a subspecies of Black-backed Bittern, but it is currently considered a subspecies of Little Bittern by most authorities.

Habitat

Reedbeds

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests on platforms of reeds in shrubs, and 4-8 eggs are laid.

Diet

Diet includes insects, fish and amphibians.

Vocalisation

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase

• List of references.

External Links