To which family of birds does the 'Bittern' belong?
Bittern "Ixobrychus" contains mainly small species: The genus "Botaurus" is the larger bitterns: The genus "Zebrilus" includes only one species: Bittern Bittern is a common name given to birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called "hæferblæte" in Old English; the word "bittern" came to English from Old French "butor", itself from Gallo-Roman "butitaurus", a compound of Latin "būtiō" and "taurus".. Bitterns usually frequent reed beds and similar marshy areas, and feed on amphibians, reptiles, insects, and fish. Unlike the
Least bittern common but are more often heard than seen. They prefer to escape on foot and hide than to take flight. These birds make cooing and clucking sounds, usually in early morning or near dusk. The least bittern was originally described in 1789 by J. F. Gmelin based on specimens from Jamaica. The least bittern forms a superspecies with the little bittern and yellow bittern. There are five widely recognised subspecies. Birds from Ecuador are sometimes assigned to a sixth subspecies, "I. e. limoncochae" . North American birds were formerly divided into two subspecies, eastern ("I. e. exilis") and western ("I.