Herons (Ardeidae)
Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) - HBW 1, p. 425
French: Blongios nain
German: Zwergdommel
Spanish: Avetorillo Común
Other common names: Australian/New Zealand Little Bittern
Taxonomy: Ardea minuta Linnaeus, 1766, Switzerland.
Forms superspecies with I. exilis and I. sinensis. Race novaezelandiae often considered separate species, but very little known and now probably extinct (cause unknown); payesii and podiceps have been treated as two further species. Five subspecies normally recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- minutus (Linnaeus, 1766) - C & S Europe and N Africa E to W Siberia and through Iran to NE India; winters Africa to India.
- payesii (Hartlaub, 1858) - Africa S of Sahara.
- podiceps (Bonaparte, 1855) - Madagascar.
- minutus (Linnaeus, 1766) - C & S Europe and N Africa E to W Siberia and through Iran to NE India; winters Africa to India.
- payesii (Hartlaub, 1858) - Africa S of Sahara.
- podiceps (Bonaparte, 1855) - Madagascar.
- novaezelandiae (Potts, 1871) - South I, New Zealand (probably extinct).
- dubius Mathews, 1912 - SW & E Australia; S New Guinea.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
-
A male on a twig, ejecting a pellet and then calling Locality Essonne, Île-de-France, France (ssp minutus)
Julien Rochefort 30 June 2006 4 years ago 47 sec 4.7 -
A male on a twig, preening and flying away Locality Essonne, Île-de-France, France (ssp minutus)
Julien Rochefort 30 June 2006 4 years ago 18 sec 4.6 -
The chicks on the nest. Locality La Tancada, Ebro Delta, Tarragona Province, Catalonia, Spain (ssp minutus)
Pedro Rubio 1994 9 years ago 27 sec 4.6 -
Adolescent hunts and swallows a fish at Kanyavari Bridge. Partially slow motion. Locality Kanyavari Island, Lake Balaton, Hungary (ssp minutus)
Stefan_Thiel 14 September 2011 20 weeks ago 55 sec 4.5 -
An adult and chicks on the nest. Locality La Tancada, Ebro Delta, Tarragona Province, Catalonia, Spain (ssp minutus)
Pedro Rubio 1994 9 years ago 12 sec 4.4 -
An adult having a bath. Locality La Tancada, Ebro Delta, Tarragona Province, Catalonia, Spain (ssp minutus)
Pedro Rubio 1994 9 years ago 13 sec 4.2
-
Hidden in the reeds
Locality Abu Nakhla Ponds, Doha, Qatar (ssp minutus)
John A Thompson 26 June 2009 1 year ago 4.6 -
at the waterside
Locality Wilderness, Western Cape Province, South Africa
Geurt van Steenbeek 29 January 2010 1 year ago 4.1 -
Close-up of a fledgling penetrating large reedbed.
Locality Milicz Fish Ponds, Milicz, Lower Silesian Province, Poland (ssp minutus)
Hanna Sztwiertnia 13 June 2008 1 year ago 4 -
Adult male flying
Locality Fertő-Hanság National Park, Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary (ssp minutus)
Fabienne Muriset 24 May 2009 1 year ago 4 -
A juvenile preparing the attack to a fish
Locality Quinta do Ludo, Algarve Region, Portugal (ssp minutus)
Jose Viana 17 September 2006 2 years ago 4 -
A male capturing a frog
Locality Axios Delta, Central Macedonia Region, Greece (ssp minutus)
Theo Mamais 1 August 1999 3 years ago 3.7
-
For more than 20 years no records. In May/june 2009 three males calling. Locality Rieselfelder Münster, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
(ssp minutus)
Jan Ole Kriegs _ LWL-Stat... 9 June 2009 2 years ago 3
Email this page