yellow bittern
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Ixobrychus sinensis - Chinese Garden.jpg
| genus = Botaurus
| species = sinensis
| authority = (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
| range_map = Ixobrychus sinensis map.svg
| range_map_caption = Range of B. sinensis {{leftlegend|#FFFF00|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#008000|Year-round range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#0000FF|Nonbreeding range|outline=gray}}
}}
The yellow bittern (Botaurus sinensis) is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in the northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan, and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Alaska and there has been a single sighting in Great Britain, from Radipole Lake, Dorset on November 23, 1962 – however, the British Ornithologists' Union has always considered this occurrence to be of uncertain provenance and currently it is not accepted onto the official British List.
Taxonomy
The yellow bittern was formally described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Systema Naturae. He placed it with the herons, cranes, storks, and bitterns in the genus Ardea and coined the binomial name Ardea sinensis.{{cite book |last=Gmelin |first=J. F. |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 2 |language=Latin |location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] |publisher=Georg Emanuel Beer |pages=642–643 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656135}} Gmelin based his description on the "Chinese heron" that had been included by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham based his description on a collection of Chinese drawings.{{cite book |last=Latham |first=J. |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 |page=99 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40078858}} The yellow bittern was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus. A molecular phylogenetic study of the heron family Ardeidae published in 2023 found that Ixobrychus was paraphyletic, and to create monophyletic genera, 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 sinensis is Modern Latin meaning "China".{{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/n357/mode/1up 357]}} The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
Description
The yellow bittern is a small species at {{cvt|36|to|38|cm}} in length, with a short neck and longish bill.{{Cite book |last=Silva Wijeyeratne |first=Gehan de |url=http://archive.org/details/photographicguid0000silv |title=A photographic guide to birds of Sri Lanka |date=2008 |publisher=New Holland |location=London |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-84773-318-4}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Ixobrychus sinensis, Yellow bittern |url=https://www.thainationalparks.com/species/yellow-bittern |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Thai National Parks |language=en}} It has yellow green legs, an ivory bill (darker on top), a short black tail, and yellow irises.{{Cite web |title=HeronConservation » Yellow Bittern |url=https://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/list-of-herons/yellow-bittern/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last1=Phillipps |first1=Quentin |url=http://archive.org/details/phillippsfieldgu0000unse |title=Phillipps Field Guide To The Birds Of Borneo |last2=Phillipps |first2=Karen |date=2010-01-07 |publisher=John Beaufoy Publishing |isbn=978-1-906780-10-4 |pages=60}} The male of the species has a dark cap, chestnut head and neck, with a uniformly dull yellow body above and buff below.{{Cite book |last=Pratt |first=H. Douglas (Harold Douglas) |url=http://archive.org/details/birdsbatsofpalau0000prat |title=The birds & bats of Palau |date=2008 |publisher=Honolulu, HI : Mutual Pub. |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-56647-871-7 |pages=164–165}} The female's cap, neck, and breast are streaked, with a rufous hindneck and upper back and streaked dark red brown and buff under parts. The juvenile of the species resembles the female but is more boldly streaked, brown on its head and back, and mottled with buff above.{{Cite web |date=2016-01-09 |title=Yellow Bittern |url=https://singaporebirds.com/species/yellow-bittern/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Birds of Singapore |language=en-US}}
Distribution and habitat
File:Ixobrychus sinensis MWNH 0906.JPG]]
Yellow bitterns are found in fresh water marshes and swamps. It nests in small constructed platforms of reeds or twigs in the vegetation of reed beds or in trees and shrubs adjacent to or above water.{{Cite web |title=Yellow Bittern |url=https://animalia.bio/yellow-bittern |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Animalia}} They lay four to six pale blue-green eggs.{{Cite web |last= |title=Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) – Planet of Birds |date=25 September 2011 |url=https://planetofbirds.com/ciconiiformes-ardeidae-yellow-bittern-ixobrychus-sinensis |access-date=2024-04-01 |language=en-US}}
Behaviour and ecology
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}
Yellow bitterns feed on a variety of insects, fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and molluscs.
Conservation
The yellow bittern is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.{{Cite web |date=2020-04-26 |title=List of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (2023) {{!}} FWS.gov |url=https://www.fws.gov/media/list-birds-protected-migratory-bird-treaty-act-2023 |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=10.13 List of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. |url=https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-10/subpart-B/section-10.13 |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=National Archives Code of Federal Regulations}}
Gallery
File:Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) at Chiba JPN.jpg|1）Parent locates child birds without chirp (Chiba pref. Japan)
File:Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) child bird at Chia JPN.jpg|2）Child birds notice parent then exit from thicket
File:Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) feeds to child bird at Chiba JPN.jpg|3）Feeding to child birds