Von Schrenck's bittern

Von Schrenck's bittern or Schrenck's bittern (Ixobrychus eurhythmus) is a small bittern (birds of the subfamily Botaurinae). It breeds in China and Siberia from March to July, and Japan from May to August. It winters in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, passing through the rest of South-east Asia. It is an exceptionally rare vagrant as far west as Europe, with a single sighting in Italy in 1912. It is named after Leopold von Schrenck, the 19th-century Russian naturalist.

Foraging bird from Central Catchment, Singapore

Von Schrenck's bittern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Ixobrychus
Species:
I. eurhythmus
Binomial name
Ixobrychus eurhythmus

This is a small species at 33 to 38 cm (13 to 15 in) in length, with a short neck, longish yellow bill and yellow legs.[2] The male is uniformly chestnut above, and buff below and on the wing coverts. The female and juvenile are chestnut all over with white speckles above, and white streaks below. When in flight, it shows black flight feathers and tail.

Their breeding habitat is reed beds. They can be difficult to see, given their skulking lifestyle and reed bed habitat, but tend to emerge at dusk, when they can be seen creeping almost cat-like in search of preys.

Widespread throughout its large range, Von Schrenck's bittern is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Ixobrychus eurhythmus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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