least bittern

The least bittern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the herons, cranes, storks, and bitterns in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea exilis.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=645 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656138 }} Gmelin based his description on the "minute bittern" from Jamaica that had been included by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham did not specify how he had obtained the specimen.{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1785 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=3, Part 1 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | pages=66–67 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40078823 }} The least bittern was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus but when a molecular phylogenetic study of the heron family Ardeidae published in 2023 found that Ixobrychus was paraphyletic, Ixobrychus was merged into the genus Botaurus that had been introduced in 1819 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens..{{Cite journal | last1=Hruska | first1=J.P. | last2=Holmes | first2=J. | last3=Oliveros | first3=C. | last4=Shakya | first4=S. | last5=Lavretsky | first5=P. | last6=McCracken | first6=K.G. | last7=Sheldon | first7=F.H. | last8=Moyle | first8=R.G. | date=2023 | title=Ultraconserved elements resolve the phylogeny and corroborate patterns of molecular rate variation in herons (Aves: Ardeidae) | journal=Ornithology | volume=140 | issue=2 | pages=ukad005 | doi=10.1093/ornithology/ukad005}}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pelicans/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=20 August 2024 }}{{Cite journal | last1=Chesser | first1=R.T. | last2=Billerman | first2=S.M. | last3=Burns | first3=K.J. | last4=Cicero | first4=C. | last5=Dunn | first5=J.L. | last6=Hernández-Baños | first6=B.E. | last7=Jiménez | first7=R.A. | last8=Johnson | first8=O. | last9=Kratter | first9=A.W. | last10=Mason | first10=N.A. | last11=Rasmussen | first11=P.C. | last12=Remsen | first12=J.V.J. | date=2024 | title=Sixty-fifth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds | journal=Ornithology | volume=141 | issue=3 | pages=ukae019 | doi=10.1093/ornithology/ukae019 | doi-access=free }} The genus name Botaurus is Medieval Latin for a bittern. The specific epithet exilis is Latin meaning "little" or "slender".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n75/mode/1up 75], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n155/mode/1up 155]}}

Six subspecies are recognised:

• B. e. exilis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – Breeding: east Canada and east, southwest USA. Non-breeding: Central America and West Indies
• B. e. pullus (Van Rossem, 1930) – northwest Mexico
• B. e. erythromelas (Vieillot, 1817) – east Panama and north South America to north Bolivia and north Argentina
• B. e. limoncochae (Norton, DW, 1965) – east Ecuador
• B. e. bogotensis (Chapman, 1914) – central Colombia
• B. e. peruvianus (Bond, J, 1955) – west central Peru

North American birds were formerly divided into two subspecies, eastern (B. e. exilis) and western (B. e. hesperis), but this is no longer believed to be a valid distinction.Gibbs, J.P., FA. Reid, and S.M. Melvin. 1992. Least Bittern. In A. Poole, P. Stettenheim and F. Gill (editors). The Birds of North America, No. 17. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; and American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

The least bittern forms a superspecies with the little bittern and yellow bittern.{{ cite book | last1=Martinez-Vilalta | first1=A. | last2=Motis | first2=A. | year=1992 | chapter=Least bittern | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=1: Ostrich to Ducks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=84-87334-10-5 | page=425 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/425/mode/1up| chapter-url-access=registration }}

A dark rufous morph, B. e. neoxenus, termed "Cory's bittern" or "Cory's least bittern" was originally described by Charles Cory as a separate species in 1885 from a specimen collected on or near the Caloosahatchee River, near Lake Okeechobee, in southwest Florida. Cory stated that the specimen was "without doubt perfectly distinct from any other known species". Further specimens followed over the next decades from Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Ontario.

Initially, Cory's least bittern was accepted as a valid species, with Elliott Coues and Richard Bowdler Sharpe both including it in published species lists. As early as 1892, however, doubts were raised about the validity of Cory's least bittern as a separate species. Nonetheless, in 1896 Frank Chapman wrote a detailed paper supporting its retention as a valid species. Outram Bangs later argued, in 1915, that this view was wrong and proposed that Cory's should become a junior synonym of least bittern. This view eventually prevailed, with the American Ornithologists' Union removing the species from their list of North American birds in 1923, although others held dissenting views until at least 1928.

Cory's least bittern was once fairly common, but it is now exceptionally rare, with only five sightings since 1950. More than 50% of the historical records are from the Toronto region of Ontario. Initially known only from the North American subspecies exilis, it was first recorded in the South America subspecies erthyromelas in 1967.

File:Least bittern with a crawfish (71370).jpg]]

The least bittern is one of the smallest herons in the world, with perhaps only the dwarf bittern and the black-backed bittern averaging smaller in length. It can measure from {{cvt|28|to|36|cm}} in length, and the wingspan ranges from {{cvt|41|to|46|cm}}. Body mass is from {{cvt|51|to|102|g}}, with most least bitterns weighing between {{cvt|73|and|95|g}}, making this perhaps the lightest of all herons.{{cite web |url=http://www.heronconservation.org/styled-5/styled-34/ |title=Least Bittern |website=HeronConservation.org |date=2011-05-21 |access-date=2013-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527230027/http://www.heronconservation.org/styled-5/styled-34/ |archive-date=27 May 2014 |url-status=dead }} A recent manual of avian body masses cites another species in this genus, the stripe-backed bittern, as having a mean body mass slightly lower than the least bittern, which is credited with a mean mass of {{convert|86.3|g|oz|abbr=on}}.CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), {{ISBN|978-1-4200-6444-5}}.

The bird's underparts and throat are white with light brown streaks. Its face and the sides of the neck are light brown; it has yellow eyes and a yellow bill.{{cite web|url=https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/least-bittern|title=Least Bittern|website=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation|access-date=31 August 2024}} The adult male is glossy greenish-black on the back and crown;{{cite book|last1=Alden|first1=Peter|last2=Cassie|first2=Brian|last3=Kahl|first3=Jonathan D.W.|last4=Nelson|first4=Gil|last5=Oches|first5=Eric A.|last6=Zirlin|first6=Harry|last7=Zomlefer|first7=Wendy B.|title=National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Southeastern States|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=1999|isbn=978-0-679-44683-5|page=284}} the adult female is glossy brown on these parts; both have white lines on their shoulders. They show light brown parts (covert feathers) on the wings in flight.{{cite book|last=Sibley|first=David Allen|title=The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|edition=Second|isbn=978-0-307-95791-7|year=2017|page=74}}

These birds make cooing and clucking sounds, usually in the early morning or near dusk.{{cite web|url=https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/species/description/10877/Ixobrychus-exilis|title=Plants and Animals: Ixobrychus exilis|website=Michigan Natural Features Inventory|publisher=Michigan State University Extension|access-date=31 August 2024}}

Image:Least Bittern.jpg

The least bittern is an elusive bird. They spend much time straddling reeds. 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. This is perhaps a predator-avoidance behaviour, since its small size makes the bittern vulnerable to many potential predators. Thanks to its habit of perching among the reeds, the least bittern can feed from the surface of water that would be too deep for the wading strategy of other herons. The least bittern and much larger and different-looking 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 {{convert|4|cm|in|abbr=on}} apart. When dead, the bird's body measured {{convert|5.7|cm|in|abbr=on}} across, indicating that it could compress its breadth to an extraordinary degree.

These birds nest in large marshes with dense vegetation from southern Canada to northern Argentina. Nest of strips of rushes woven together to form a platform and fastened to saw grass growing on the bank of a stream.{{Cite web |title=THE BIRD BOOK |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/30000/pg30000-images.html#Page_378}} The nest is a well-concealed platform built from cattails and other marsh vegetation. The female lays four or five eggs, in extreme cases from two to seven. The eggs are pale blue or green. Both parents feed the young by regurgitating food. A second brood is often produced in a season.

These birds migrate from the northern parts of their range in winter to the southernmost coasts of the United States and areas further south, travelling at night.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

They mainly eat fish, frogs, crustaceans, insects and small mammals, which they capture with quick jabs of their bill while climbing through marsh plants.{{cite web|url=https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/least-bittern|title=Least bittern Ixobrychus exilis|website=Chesapeake Bay Program|access-date=31 August 2024}}

The numbers of these birds have declined in some areas due to loss of habitat. They are still fairly common but are more often heard than seen. As the species has a large range and a large total population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "Least Concern". The least bittern is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070102061226/http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act]. fws.gov

{{Reflist|refs=

• {{cite journal|author=Cory, Charles B.|date=April 1886|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v003n02/p0262-p0262.pdf |title=Description of a New North American Species of Ardetta|journal=The Auk| volume= 3|issue= 2|page= 262|doi=10.2307/4625371|jstor=4625371}}
• {{cite journal|author=Cory, Charles B.|date=July 1886|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v003n03/p0408-p0408.pdf |title=More News of Ardetta neoxena|journal=The Auk| volume= 3|issue= 3|page= 408}}

• {{cite journal|author=Scott, W. E. D.|date=October 1889|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v006n04/p0317-p0318.pdf |title=A second specimen of Cory's Bittern (Botaurus neoxenus)|journal=The Auk |volume=6|issue= 4|pages= 317–318|doi=10.2307/4066876|jstor=4066876}}
• {{cite journal|author=Cory, Charles B.|date=July 1891|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v008n03/p0309-p0309.pdf |title=Capture of a fourth specimen of Ardetta neoxena|journal=The Auk|volume=8|issue= 3|pages=309–310|doi=10.2307/4067875|jstor=4067875}}

{{cite journal|author=Scott, W. E. D.|date=April 1892|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v009n02/p0141-p0142.pdf |title=A Description of the Adult Male of Botaurus neoxenus (Cory), with Additional Notes on the Species|journal=The Auk| volume= 9|issue= 2|pages= 141–142|doi=10.2307/4067935|jstor=4067935}}

• {{cite journal|author=Watkins, L. Whitney|date=January 1895|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v012n01/p0077-p0077.pdf |title=Cory's Least Bittern in Michigan|journal=The Auk |volume=12|issue= 1|page= 77|doi=10.2307/4068216|jstor=4068216}}
• {{cite journal|author=Taverner, P. A.|date=January 1905|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v022n01/p0077-p0078.pdf |title=Description of Second Michigan Specimen of Cory's Least Bittern|journal=The Auk |volume=22|issue= 1|pages= 77–78|doi=10.2307/4069881|jstor=4069881}}

{{cite journal|author=Eifrig, C. W. G.|date=January 1915 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v032n01/p0098-p0099.pdf |title=Cory's Least Bittern in Illinois|journal=The Auk |volume=32|issue= 1|pages= 98–99|doi=10.2307/4071623|jstor=4071623 }}

{{cite journal|author=Carpenter, Charles Knapp|date=January 1948|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v065n01/p0080-p0085.pdf |title=An Early Illinois Record of "Cory's Least Bittern"|journal= The Auk |volume=65|issue= 1|pages= 80–85|doi=10.2307/4080230|jstor=4080230}}

{{cite journal|author=Cherrie, George K.|date=January 1896|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v013n01/p0079-p0079.pdf |title=Ardetta neoxena from Wisconsin|journal=The Auk |volume=13|issue= 1|pages=79–80|doi=10.2307/4068762|jstor=4068762}}

{{cite journal|author=Ruthven, Alexander G.|date=July 1907|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v024n03/p0338-p0338.pdf |title=Another specimen of Cory's Bittern|journal=The Auk |volume=24|issue= 3|page= 338|doi=10.2307/4070385|jstor=4070385}}

• {{cite journal|author=Cross, W.|year=1892|title= A new Species for Ontario |journal=Proceeding. of the Ornithological Subsection of the Canadian Institute for 1890–91|page =41}}
• {{cite journal|author1=Brown, Hubert H. |author2=William Brewster|date=October 1893|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v010n04/p0363-p0364.pdf |title=Capture of another Ardetta neoxena at Toronto, Ontario|journal=The Auk |volume=10|issue= 4|pages= 363–364|doi=10.2307/4067835|jstor=4067835}}
• {{cite journal|author=Fleming, J. H.|date=January 1902|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v019n01/p0077-p0078.pdf |title=Cory's Bittern|journal=The Auk |volume=19|issue= 1|pages= 77–78|doi=10.2307/4069217|jstor=4069217}}
• {{cite journal|author=Ames, J. H.|year=1894|title= Third specimen of Ardetta neoxena taken at Toronto |journal=The Biological Review of Ontario|volume= 1|page=52}}

{{cite journal|author1=Pickering, Charles |author2=William Brodie|year=1894|title= Fourth specimen of Ardetta neoxena at Toronto|journal=The Biological Review of Ontario|volume=1 |page=54}}

{{cite journal|author=Chapman, Frank M.|date=January 1896|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v013n01/p0011-p0019.pdf |title=The Standing of Ardetta neoxena|journal=The Auk |volume=13|issue= 1|pages= 11–19|doi=10.2307/4068734|jstor=4068734}}

{{cite journal|author=Bangs, Outram|date=October 1915|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v032n04/p0481-p0484.pdf |title=Notes on Dichromatic Herons and Hawks|journal=The Auk |volume=32|issue= 4|pages= 481–484|doi=10.2307/4072589|jstor=4072589}}

{{cite journal|author=Stone, Witmer|author2=Harry C. Oberholser|author3=Jonathan Dwight|author4=T. S. Palmer|author5=Charles W. Richmond|name-list-style=amp|date=July 1923|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v040n03/p0513-p0525.pdf |title=Eighteenth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds|journal=The Auk| volume= 40|issue= 3|pages= 513–525|doi=10.2307/4074557|jstor=4074557}}

{{cite journal|author=Taverner, P. A.|date=April 1928|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v045n02/p0204-p0205.pdf |title=Cory's Least Bittern|journal=The Auk| volume= 45|issue= 2|pages= 204–205|doi=10.2307/4074769|jstor=4074769}}

[http://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/07/the-mysterious-dark-least-bittern/ The mysterious dark Least Bittern], David Sibley, 23 July 2011

{{cite journal|author1=Pittaway, Ron |author2=Burke, Peter |year=1996|url=http://www.jeaniron.ca/2010/corysleastbitternRF.pdf |title=Recognizable forms: Cory's Least Bittern|journal=Ontario Birds|volume=14 |issue=1|pages =26–40}}

{{cite journal|author1=Martins Teixeira, Dante |author2=Herculano M. F. Alvarenga|year=1985|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v102n02/p0413-p0413.pdf |title=The First Recorded Cory's Bittern (lxobrychus "neoxenus") from South America|journal=The Auk|volume =102 |issue=2 |page =413|doi=10.2307/4086791|jstor=4086791}}

}}

• [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Least_Bittern.html Least Bittern Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• {{InternetBirdCollection|least-bittern-ixobrychus-exilis|Least Bittern}}
• {{VIREO|Least+Bittern|Least Bittern}}

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Least Bittern

Least Bittern

Category:Birds of the Americas

Category:Birds of the United States

Category:Birds of Canada

Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic

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Category:Birds of South America

Category:Birds of North America

Least Bittern

Least Bittern