All About Bittern Birds And Rare Sighting

Here is a recent post from the Union Bay Watch Blog published by Larry Hubbell, long-time local photographer and birder. 

Here also is an in-depth article about Larry and his work.


The Boring Bittern

To the casual observer the American Bittern, a member of the heron family, may not be terribly exciting. Its carefully camouflaged coloring does not stand out. Its stealthy movements do not attract attention. Its long drawn-out silences, even though critical for hunting, provide no music for our ears. It would not be surprising if some consider the bittern to be a bit boring.

The most exceptional and least boring aspect of a bittern might be its call. If you have never heard a bittern, click here (and then scroll down) to be enthralled by their strangely odd and uniquely liquid sound. 

In an age of neon lights, nagging cell phones and addictive video games the silent bittern prowling through the marsh can be somewhat subtle and easy to miss.

If you are lucky and patient enough to watch a hunting bittern, I suspect you will become slowly mesmerized. The bittern's slow moving style makes the green heron look like the hummingbird of the heron family.

Still, the difference between observing a creature in its natural state or focusing  on electronic devices is stark. For me, nature feeds the soul, refreshes the mind and creates hope for the future. It is never boring. Electronic interactions tend to increase my tension, drain energy and keep me awake when I should be sleeping. 

One of the intriguing and odd habits of a bittern is the way it stares at the world while holding its beak above its head. It is strangely comical, especially for such a silent and serious creature.

When the bittern detects a possible food source the head slowly rises.

When the bittern's head reaches the highest possibly height it always makes me wonder where the neck was previously hidden. In the first photo, of this little series of three, there was virtually no sign of the bittern's neck.

Even from the side the neck seems to disappear. Beside this heron, the only other bittern I have ever seen on Union Bay was in 2012. Click Here to see the photos and read the story.

As well as extending the neck up to see potential food, the bittern will very slowly extend it down and out. Clearly, the bittern is hoping to get close enough to grab a snack - prior to the  prey sensing its impending doom.

In the book, 'Union Bay - The Life of a City Marsh' the authors (Harry Higman and Earl Larrison) mention seeing breeding bitterns on Union Bay. They also state that green herons were a new species, having just arrived to our area, prior to the book being published in 1951.

Today the situation has reversed. Every year I see the smaller green herons while the bitterns are now uncommon on Union Bay. In early September, I had six green heron sightings in a single day. All but two of the birds were in different areas of the bay. I suspect I saw at least five different birds. As my friend Teri suggested, I was most likely witnessing an influx of green herons during their fall migration.

Green herons weighs about half a pound, a bittern weighs around a pound while our great blue herons weigh in at closer to five pounds. I suspect the green heron's light weight helps explain why they can hunt from on top of the lily pads. As you can see in the photo above, green herons with their rusty red coloring and the dark green caps, are a bit less boring than bitterns. 

While I photographed the bittern, this great blue heron preened nearby. It reminded me how I have watched great blue herons come in and shoulder a green heron out of the way. It is not as if they chase them. The blue herons simply push the smaller green herons off the prime feeding locations. I was curious if the great blue heron would try the same approach with the bittern. The next time I glanced over my shoulder, the great blue was gone. Maybe the slightly larger size of the bittern, and its large yellow claws, deterred our local bully.

I hope we are learning how to live in harmony with nature. Specifically, I would love to see bird species, like the bittern, return and reproduce around Union Bay. Could it be that someday the new wetlands in the Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA), where the old 'dime' parking lot was, will provide just enough new habitat to entice bitterns to resettle here. It would certainly be wonderful to hear their strange liquid calls booming across the natural area in Spring. There wouldn't be anything boring about it for me.