Ixobrychus exilis

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Vegetation: freshwater marshes, saltwater and brackish marshes, tropical lowland evergreen forest, mangrove forests • Maximum Elevation: 3,100 meters • Foraging Strata: Understory/undergrowth • Center of Abundance: Lower tropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; tropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Medium

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,286 meters (0 to 10,781 feet).[1]

Ecology: List of Habitats : 1.7 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level 5.4 Wetlands (inland) - Bogs , Marshes, Swamps , Fens , Peatlands 12.5 Marine Intertidal - Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)

Biology

Diet

Mostly: Aquatic Invertebrates . Lesser Quantities of: Reptiles or Amphibians Insects Fish

Reproduction

• Breeding Habitat : Wetland-open water
• Clutch Size: 3-6
• Length of Incubation : 19-20 days
• Days to Fledge : 25
• Number of Broods: 2

Migration

Migratory

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001.

Similar Species

Green Heron

Members of the genus Ixobrychus

There are approximately 28 species in this genus:

I. cinnamomeus (Cinnamon Bittern) · I. eurhythmus (Von Schrenck's Little Bittern) · I. eurythmus · I. exilis (Little Bittern) · I. exilis bogotensis · I. exilis erythromelas · I. exilis exilis (Cory's Bittern) · I. exilis hesperis (Western Least Bittern) · I. exilis limoncochae · I. exilis peruvianus · I. exilis pullus · I. exilis ssp · I. flavavicollis · I. flavicollis (Black Bittern) · I. flavicollis australis · I. flavicollis flavicollis (Black Bittern) · I. flavicollis woodfordi · I. involucris (Stripe-Backed Bittern) · I. minutus (Little Bittern) · I. minutus dubius · I. minutus minutus (Little Bittern) · I. minutus novaezelandiae · I. minutus payesii · I. minutus podiceps · I. novaezelandiae (New Zealand Little Bittern) · I. sinensis (Chinese Little Bittern) · I. sinensis sinensis (Chinese Little Bittern) · I. sturmii (African Dwarf Bittern)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A history of the birds of Colorado, by William Lutley Sclater London, Witherby & co., 1912. ENG url p. 81.
• A systematic list of the birds of California / by Joseph Grinnell. Hollywood: Cooper Ornithological Club, 1912. ENG url p. 8.
• Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
• An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators. Newton Corner, Mass.: Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region, 1980. ENG url p. 36, p. 6.
• An ecological study of southern Wisconsin fishes; the brook silversides (Labidesthes sicculus) and the cisco (Leucichthys artedi) in their relations to the region, with 16 plates and 27 tables, by Alvin Robert Cahn. [Urbana, Ill., The University of Illinois, c1927] ENG url p. 84.
• Anglo-russkii biologicheskii slovar' / [avtory, I. N. Afanas'eva et al.; spetsial'nye nauch. redaktory, O. I. Chibisova i L. A. Koziar]. Moskva: Russkii iazyk, 1979. ENG url p. 79.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- ENG url p. 175, p. 390.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 145, p. 148.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Birds in Kansas / Max C. Thompson & Charles Ely. Lawrence, Kan.: University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History: c1989- ENG url p. 34, p. 399.
• Birds of America; editor-in-chief, T. Gilbert Pearson; consulting editor, John Burroughs; artists, R.I. Brasher, R. Bruce Horsfall [and] Henry Thurston. New York, The University Society, 1923. ENG url p. 182.
• Birds of New York / by Elon Howard Eaton. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1910-1914. ENG url p. 693.
• Birds of eastern Canada, by P. A. Taverner. Ottawa, J. de L. Tachprinter, 1919. ENG url p. 81.
• Birds of the Pacific coast, including a brief account of the distribution and habitat of one hundred and eighteen birds that are more or less common to the Pacific coast states and British Columbia, many of which are found east by Willard Ayres Eliot; wi New York, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1923. ENG url p. 177.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 487, p. 84.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. New Haven: The Museum, ENG url p. 76.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 130, p. 208.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 106, p. 642.
• Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. Charles E. Hellmayr, Boardman Conover. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1948. ENG url p. 178, p. 232, p. 235.
• Check-list of North American birds / prepared by a committee of the American ornithologists' union. Lancaster, Pa.: The Union, 1931. ENG url p. 498.
• Color key to North American birds, with bibliographical appendix, by Frank M. Chapman with upwards of 800 drawings, by Chester A. Reed, B.S. New York, D. Appleton & Company, 1912. ENG url p. 264.
• Ecology of Buzzards Bay: an estuarine profile / by Brian L. Howes and Dale D. Goehringer and Center for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts; Rebecca J. Howard, project officer. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1996. ENG url p. 73.
• Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. ENG url p. 131, p. 163, p. 234.
• Fauna of New England, 11: list of the aves / by Glover M. Allen. Boston: Society of Natural History, 1909. ENG url p. 3.
• Fauna of New England. Boston, Printed for the [Boston] Society [of Natural History] from the Gurdon Saltonstall Fund, 1904-25. ENG url p. 3.
• Fauna of New England. List of the Araneida. Boston, For Society, 1908. ENG url p. 3.
• Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, The Service, U.S. Govt Print. Off. ENG url p. 529.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. ENG url p. 219.
• Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. Cambridge, Mass.: The Club, 1886- ENG url p. 192, p. 66.
• Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History. San Diego, Calif.: The Society, 1931- ENG url p. 271, p. 38.
• Michigan bird life: a list of all the bird species known to occur in the State together with an outline of their classification and an account of the life history of each species, with special reference to its relation t by Walter Bradford Barrows. Lansing: Michigan Agricultural College, 1912. ENG url p. 133, p. 806.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1946-1996. ENG url p. 10, p. 10.
• Naturalist's guide to the Americas, prepared by the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society of America, with assistance from numerous organizations and individuals, assembled and edited by chairman, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1926. ENG url p. 688, p. 743.
• Pacific coast avifauna / Cooper Ornithological Club of California. Santa Clara, Calif.: The Club, 1900-1974. ENG url p. 117, p. 126, p. 16, p. 189, p. 21, p. 30, p. 42, p. 9, p. 90.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia] ENG url p. 247, p. 371.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. [Washington, Biological Society of Washington] ENG url p. 132.
• Proceedings of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union. Lincoln, [1900-15] ENG url p. 29.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 13, p. 179, p. 604, p. 666.
• Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)
• Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States / prepared by National Fish and Wildlife Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [Washington]: The Service: [for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.], 1980. ENG url p. 4.
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 113, p. 21, p. 472, p. 476, p. 79.
• The Canadian bird book: illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred north American birds, also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs / by Chester A. Reed. Toronto: Musson Book Co., c1914. ENG url p. 459.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, The Ottawa-Field-Naturalists Club. ENG url p. 120.
• The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University. ENG url p. 593, p. 729.
• The Ottawa naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. ENG url p. 163, p. 232.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. ENG url p. 142, p. 525.
• The bird book: illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs / by Chester A. Reed. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page & company, 1915. ENG url p. 120.
• The birds of Connecticut, by John Hall Sage and Louis Bennett Bishop, assisted by Walter Parks Bliss. Hartford, Printed for the State Geological and Natural History Survey, 1913. ENG url p. 191, p. 192, p. 365, p. 44.
• The birds of Illinois and Wisconsin. Chicago, 1909. ENG url p. 364, p. 364, p. 722, p. 722, p. 725, p. 725, p. 756, p. 756, p. 79, p. 79.
• The birds of Wyoming, with an explanation of recent changes in their distribution; economic aspect also considered. By B. H. Grave and Ernest P. Walker. [Laramie]University of Wyoming, 1913. ENG url p. 31.
• The oist. Albion, N.Y.: Frank H. Lattin, 1886-1941. ENG url p. 124, p. 132, p. 187.

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• BirdLife International 2004. Ixobrychus exilis. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 21 October 2006.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 3, 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 12, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 18 providers.
• Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
• NatureServe. 2003. Downloadable animal data sets. NatureServe Central Databases. Accessed February 6, 2005.
• Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
• Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
• Species At Risk Act Public Registry, Government of Canada

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 12, 2008:

• Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
• Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
• Bird Studies Canada: Marsh Monitoring Program - Birds
• Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
• Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 2001-2005
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Ontario Nest Records
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
• Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Bay of Fundy Species List (OBIS Canada)
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Ornithology Collection
• New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3851792
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-174848
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13797382
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 174846
• IUCN ID: 49608
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNGA02010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4518

Footnotes

1. Mean = 194.110 meters (636.844 feet), Standard Deviation = 306.290 based on 4,799 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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