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5

Australian Little Bittern (Ixobrychus dubius) Alternate name(s): "Little Bittern", "Black-backed Little Bittern", "Black-backed Least Bittern", "Minute Bittern", "Kaoriki" Size: 25-35 cm; wing span ca. 0.5 m Weight: 60-120 g (84 g average)

Australia: Family Group 5 Family Group 5 Table Great Egret Intermediate Egret Cattle Egret Little Egret Eastern Reef Egret Great-billed Heron White-faced Heron White-necked Heron Pied Heron Rufous Night Heron Striated Heron Black Bittern Australian Little Bittern Australasian Bittern Royal Spoonbill Yellow-billed Spoonbill Australian White Ibis Straw-necked Ibis Glossy Ibis Black-necked Stork Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Australian Little Bitterns are very small herons with a rufous front (face and breast). Male Australian Little Bitterns have a black back (cap, nape of neck, wings); females have a brown back. The inner wings of both sexes are rufous, the belly and vent are white. The bill is greyish-yellow, the legs and feet are greenish-yellow. Juveniles have a highly cryptic brown plumage with black striation.

Taxonomy, classification See Australian Little Bittern at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information Australian Little Bitterns have now been given species status and are not any longer considered to be a race of the Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus).

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Australian Little Bittern is available HERE . Australian Little Bitterns populate south-eastern Australia and parts of southern New Guinea. In Australia, Australian Little Bitterns are found mostly in the lower Murray-Darling Basin (especially along the Murray River), but occasionally also elsewhere in the Murray-Darling Basin, up to south-eastern QLD. Occasionally they are also found in the Great Dividing Range and along the South and East coast of the continent, from about Cairns, QLD, in the North to about Adelaide, SA, in the South. There is also a small population on the south-western tip of WA, including Perth, and there are some reports of vagrants in various locations along the continent's North coast. Australian Little Bitterns are usually found in freshwater habitats, mostly in reeds around freshwater lakes, but also in reedbeds and other dense vegetation along creeks and in swamps. Sometimes they are also found in wetlands with brackish and saline water.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We first spotted an Australian Little Bittern (an immature bird) in the area of Berrioye, ca. 25 km East of Maules Creek, NSW, in January 2014. The bird was spotted on four separate occasions within a period of several days. In December 2016 a single Australian Little Bittern was heard, but not seen, at Old Quipolly Dam, near Quirindi, NSW. On that occasion calls were recorded. M. Eaton reports spotting Australian Little Bitterns at Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, in March 2019. A male Australian Little Bittern was heard, but not seen, at the Pilliga Lagoon, near Pilliga, NSW. On that occasion calls were recorded.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Near-frontal view of a male Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Near-frontal view of a male Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Near-lateral view of a male Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a male Australian Little Bittern emerging from dense reeds to go foraging in a more open area (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a male Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a male Australian Little Bittern looking for prey (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a male Australian Little Bittern on the prowl (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Size comparison between a male Australian Little Bittern (slightly out of focus) and an Intermediate Egret in breeding plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Australian Little Bittern standing in a tussock
[Near Maules Creek, NSW, January 2014]

Lateral view of a female Australian Little Bittern moulting into adult plumage
[Near Maules Creek, NSW, January 2014]

The same Australian Little Bittern as shown above, now in its "cryptic posture"
[Near Maules Creek, NSW, January 2014]

Dorsal view of an Australian Little Bittern in flight
[Near Maules Creek, NSW, January 2014]

A female Australian Little Bittern was found by us in this seep of a minor creek running through at the time extremely dry woodland
[Near Maules Creek, NSW, January 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern; note the conspicuous striation on neck and wing coverts
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a foraging juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern in erect stance (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Australian Little Bittern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, March 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

lbittrn_20161208.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact calls	© MD
lbittrn_20161208.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact calls (with foreground)	© MD
lbittrn_20161208_4.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact calls	© MD
lbittrn_20161208_4.m4a	(NW NSW)	(As above; original recording)	© MD
lbittrn_20211018.m4a	(NW NSW)	Male advertising calls	© MD

More Australian Little Bittern sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 18 October 2021, 6:04 +00:00