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Little Bitterns are very small herons with a rufous front (face and breast). Male 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 irises of both sexes are yellow. The bill is greyish-yellow, the legs and feet are greenish-yellow. Juveniles have highly cryptic plumage with prominent striation. The brown is creamy to fawn, with heavy rufous streaking, while the back, from the cap down, is dark-grey, with rufous to brown edge lining, most prominently on the wing feathers.

Little Bitterns, race "dubius", have now been given species status as the Australian Little Bittern ("Ixobrychus dubius").

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 Little Bittern is available HERE .

There are 3 accepted races of Little Bitterns, whose combined range extends from parts of Africa and Madagascar to parts of Europe and eastward via Asia Minor and Arabia into south-western and central Asia, as far as Iran and Afghanistan in the South and Kazakhstan and north-western China in the North. Of the 3 races one, nominate race "minutus", is migratory (except for a permanent population in the Nile Delta). They winter in sub-Saharan Africa and southern parts of their Asian range, migrating into mid-latitude Europe and western to central Asia for the breeding season. The other two races are sedentary. Race "payesii" is resident in sub-Saharan Africa, while race "podiceps" is found only on Madagascar.

In Arabia Little Bitterns are found as breeding migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Their breeding range extends mostly around the coastal fringe, but they are also present in inland areas of Saudi Arabia, such as e.g. around Riyadh.

In Oman Little Bitterns populate suitble wetlands in much of the coastal fringe, both along the North coast, from Musandam to Ras al-Hadd, and along parts of the West coast.

Little Bitterns are usually found in freshwater habitats, mostly in reeds around freshwater lakes, but also reedbeds and other dense vegetation along creeks and in swamps. Sometimes they are also found in wetlands with brackish and saline water.

Race "minutus"