American Bittern
| Class: Aves: Birds |
Diet: Fish, crabs,
snakes, frogs, insects,small mammals |
| Order:
Ciconiiformes: Wading birds |
| Size: 66
cm (26 in) |
| Family: Ardeidae:
Herons, Bitterns |
Conservation Status:
Non-threatened |
| Scientific Name:
Botaurus lentiginosus |
Habitat: marshland |
| Range:
North America; winters in South America |
 The
American bittern has a distinctive cry, rather different from the characteristic
boom of other bitterns. This strange, three-syllable cry has inspired one
of the bird's common names: "thunder pumper." This bittern feeds alone,
moving slowly and deliberately with bill always at the ready to jab quickly
at fish, crabs, snakes, frogs, insects or small mammals. It is a migratory
species; although birds in milder areas do not actually migrate, they do
disperse after breeding. The clutch of 4 to 6 eggs is laid in a nest platform
on land or in water, and the female bird seems to perform most of the parental
duties.
  
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