- Ixobrychus flavicollis
Dupetor flavicollis
Identification
54–66 cm (21¼-26 in)
Adult
- Black above
- Yellow neck sides
- Whitish undersides are heavily streaked with brown
- Longish neck
- Long yellow bill
Female: is not so dark as the male, and is yellower on the underparts
Juvenile dark brown rather than black, otherwise similar to the adult
Distribution
Tropical Asia toAustralia.
Breeds from south-east Pakistan, throughout India to Sri Lanka and in western Burma, southern China and Hainan, the Philippines, southern Thailand and Indochina, southern Malaya, Sumatra, Java and Timor.
Also occurs in southern New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands and in coastal western, northern and eastern Australia.
Chinese birds are migratory and winter in Malaysia and Indonesia but elsewhere this species appears to undergo dispersal governed by rains.
Taxonomy
Some authorities place this species in the genus Dupetor.
Subspecies
Ixobrychus flavicollis has three subspecies[1]:
- I. f. flavicollis:
- India and South-eastern Asia to Indonesia and Philippines
- I. f. australis:
- Moluccas, New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago to west, north and eastern Australia
- I. f. woodfordi:
- Solomon Islands
Habitat
Densely vegetated margins of lakes and ponds, forest swamps and riverbanks, rice fields and mangroves.
Behaviour
Often nocturnal.
Breeding
The stick nest is made on a branch overhanging water; it is lined with reeds. Both adults incubate the 3 to 5 eggs and rear the young.
Diet
The diet includes frogs, reptiles, fish and invertebrates, snails, dragonflies, shrimps and crayfish.
Vocalisation
A booming call.
Gallery
Click images to see larger version
Male : Ssp. flavicollis
© by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, India, Jan-2013
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BF Member observations
- NSW Gov.au
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2015)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Bittern. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Bittern
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
