- Botaurus pinnatus
Identification
Aka South American Bittern
63.5 and 76 cm (25-30 in) with a weight of roughly 800g (1.76 pounds). Females tend to be smaller than males.
Buffy white throat, foreneck white broadly streaked with pale brown, rest of the neck is buff with thin black barring. White breast and belly with broad pale brown streaks, buff back, heavily streaked and barred with black. Yellow bill. The bare facial skin is bright yellow, with a brown line running across the lores. The legs are greenish-yellow, and the iris is yellow.
Distribution
Central and South America.
Taxonomy
German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler, who first described the South American Bittern in 1829, placed it in the genus Ardea. It is sometimes included in a superspecies with American Bittern, and these two species are sometimes further included in a superspecies with Eurasian Bittern. There are currently two recognized subspecies, which are separated by a gap in Central America.
Habitat
Swamps, paddyfields and cane plantations.
Behaviour
Diet includes fish, frogs, snakes and insects.
Largely nocturnal.
It builds a platform or shallow cup nest of rush stems or other plant material, among thick vegetation not far above the water surface. 2-3 olive-brown eggs are laid and incubated by the female.
