Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Pelecaniformes > Ardeidae > Botaurus > Botaurus stellaris

Botaurus stellaris (Eurasian Bittern)

Synonyms: Ardea stellaris (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

The Eurasian bittern or great bittern (Botaurus stellaris) is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race (B. s. stellaris) breeding in parts of Europe and Asia, as well as on the northern coast of Africa, while the southern race (B. s. capensis) is endemic to parts of southern Africa. It is a secretive bird, seldom seen in the open as it prefers to skulk in reed beds and thick vegetation near water bodies. Its presence is apparent in the spring, when the booming call of the male during the breeding season can be heard. It feeds on fish, small mammals, fledgling birds, amphibians, crustaceans and insects.
View Wikipedia Record: Botaurus stellaris

Infraspecies

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
8
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
32
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 16.0209
EDGE Score: 2.83444

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  2.714 lbs (1.231 kg)
Birth Weight [2]  42 grams
Female Weight [4]  2.701 lbs (1.225 kg)
Male Weight [8]  2.665 lbs (1.209 kg)
Weight Dimorphism [4]  14 %
Diet [3]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Piscivore
Diet - Ectothermic [3]  30 %
Diet - Fish [3]  60 %
Diet - Invertibrates [3]  10 %
Forages - Ground [3]  50 %
Forages - Water Surface [3]  50 %
Clutch Size [7]  5
Clutches / Year [4]  1
Fledging [4]  53 days
Incubation [6]  25 days
Maximum Longevity [5]  11 years
Snout to Vent Length [4]  30 inches (76 cm)
Speed [9]  19.685 MPH (8.8 m/s)
Wing Span [9]  4.133 feet (1.26 m)
Female Maturity [5]  2 years
Male Maturity [5]  2 years

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

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Important Bird Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Prey / Diet

Cyprinus carpio (Common carp)[10]
Lacerta agilis (Sand Lizard)[10]
Lissotriton vulgaris (Lantz's Newt)[10]
Procambarus clarkii (red swamp crawfish)[10]
Talpa europaea (European Mole)[10]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Consumers

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Storchová, Lenka; Hořák, David (2018), Data from: Life-history characteristics of European birds, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n6k3n
2Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
4Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
5de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
6British Trust for Ornithology
7Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
8Shaw Tsen-Hwang. 1936. The birds of Hopei Province. - Zoologia Sinica. Series B. The Vertebrates of China. Vol. 15. Fan Memorial Institute of Biology, Peiping
9Alerstam T, Rosén M, Bäckman J, Ericson PGP, Hellgren O (2007) Flight Speeds among Bird Species: Allometric and Phylogenetic Effects. PLoS Biol 5(8): e197. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050197
10del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
11Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
12International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0