The black bittern is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.
Region
South Asia, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia
Typical Environment
Occurs from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka through Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina, southern China, and the Malay Archipelago to Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern to eastern Australia. It inhabits freshwater and brackish wetlands including marshes, reedbeds, swamps, mangroves, rice paddies, and flooded forest edges. Prefers dense emergent vegetation and overgrown channels where it can remain concealed. Often uses wooded wetlands and will roost or perch in trees over water. Mainly resident throughout the tropics, with some short-distance movements following rains or in response to seasonal drying.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The black bittern is a secretive heron of dense wetlands, often remaining motionless with bill pointed upward to blend with reeds. Males are strikingly dark with warm buff neck stripes that are conspicuous in flight. It was long treated in Ixobrychus by some authorities; Dupetor flavicollis remains a widely used name, with Ixobrychus flavicollis as a synonym. It flushes reluctantly and frequently flies up into trees, unlike many other bitterns.
Temperament
solitary and secretive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, usually low over water, often flying up to perch in trees
Social Behavior
Typically solitary or in pairs, keeping to dense cover. Nests in reedbeds or shrubs over water, building a platform of reeds or twigs. Clutch size is usually 3–5 eggs, and both adults share incubation and chick-rearing duties.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Vocalizations include low booming or hooting notes at dawn and dusk, interspersed with harsh croaks. Calls carry through dense vegetation and are more often heard than the bird is seen.
Plumage
Male mostly sooty-black with a warm buff stripe along the side of the neck and fine buff streaking on the wing coverts; female and immature are browner with heavier streaking below and on the wings. Underparts can show pale streaks; upperparts appear dark slaty to blackish with a slight sheen. In flight, shows a contrasting buffy wing panel and the bold neck stripe.
Diet
Feeds on small fish, amphibians, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and occasionally small reptiles. Hunts by standing motionless at the water’s edge or from low perches, striking rapidly at passing prey. Will also stalk quietly through shallow water and dense reeds. Takes advantage of seasonal flooding and man-made wetlands such as rice fields.
Preferred Environment
Edges of marshes, slow-moving creeks, oxbow lakes, mangroves, and flooded forest margins. Often forages from cover, including overhanging branches and tangled reedbeds.
