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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)

Similar
species

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

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Australian Little Bittern at Wikipedia .

Click here for classification information

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

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.