Dwarf Bittern
A species of Small bitterns Scientific name : Ixobrychus sturmii Genus : Small bitterns
Dwarf Bittern, A species of Small bitterns
Botanical name: Ixobrychus sturmii
Genus: Small bitterns
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The dwarf bittern (Ixobrychus sturmii) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spain (the Canary Islands), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is a small bittern, and the same size as the little bittern, to which it is closely related. It is a rare vagrant in the Western Palearctic (which consists of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East), with several sightings in the Canary Islands. Two individual were observed on the island of Fuertaventura in the Canary Islands in the winter of 2017. It is designated least concern.
Size
30 cm
Nest Placement
Ground
Feeding Habits
Dwarf Bittern primarily consumes insects like grasshoppers, water beetles, and also feeds on frogs, small fish, crabs, spiders, and snails, with a preference for grasshoppers. It exhibits solitary or paired foraging, often employs slow walking or standing, defends feeding territories, and is mainly nocturnal, though it forages in daylight during overcast conditions.
Habitat
The habitat of dwarf Bittern typically encompasses regions with abundant vegetation near bodies of freshwater. These birds are commonly found in areas with dense foliage such as wooded or bushy areas adjacent to rivers, streams, lakes, and pools. They also inhabit marshlands rich in grass or reeds, seasonal floodplains, mangrove ecosystems, agricultural landscapes like rice fields, and swampy territories dominated by grass, cattails, or papyrus.
Dite type
Piscivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Photo By Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Pelicans and Relatives Family
Herons Genus
Small bitterns Species
Dwarf Bittern