- Ixobrychus sinensis
Identification
30–40 cm (11¾-15¾ in); short neck and longish bill
- Dull yellow upperparts
- Buff underparts
- Chestnut head and neck
- Black crown
Female: streaked brown crown, neck and breast
Juvenile: similar to the female but heavily streaked brown below, and mottled with buff above.
Distribution
Breeds throughout the Indian Subcontinent and on Sri Lanka and north-east to northern China, Korea, Sakhalin and Japan and south through Indochina, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia to New Guinea. Also breeds in the Seychelles.
Resident in much of range but a summer visitor present April-October in northern China and Japan.
Wintering range mainly within breeding range of southern birds but becomes more widespread in Indonesia.
Recorded as a vagrant in Australia. Accidental vagrant to Attu Island, Alaska.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Marshy areas with dense vegetation, often reed beds and paddyfields. sometimes mangroves.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest on platforms of reeds in shrubs. The clutch consists of 4-6 eggs.
Diet
The diet includes insects, fish and amphibians.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BF Member observations
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Yellow Bittern. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow_Bittern
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
