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Photo © Jack Bartholmai
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), a Special Concern species in Wisconsin, is a medium-sized wading bird with a stout body, long neck and bill. It has brown plumage on the back and is streaked with brown and white stripes on the chest and throat. The plumage does not change seasonally. Most distinctive is an elongated, black patch extending from below the eye down the side of the neck. The species can be found in shallow marshes, meadows and wetlands of many sizes but prefers large open marshes and meadows. During the breeding season, it nests in areas with thick, emergent vegetation like cattails, sedges, reed, and bulrushes. One to five buff-brown to olive-brown colored eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 24-28 days. This species is threatened by the degradation and destruction of wetlands from drainage, filling, and conversion to agriculture. The recommended avoidance period for this species is May 1 - July 15.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | SC/M |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S2S3B |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
A guidance document is not available at this time. However, the bird calendar [PDF] contains dates for avoiding impacts to this and other rare Wisconsin birds when planning management activities.
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
Photo © Gary Zahm.
Photo © Jack Bartholmai.
Photo © Len Blumin.
Photo © Len Blumin.
Photo © Len Blumin.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with American Bittern. Only natural communities for which American Bittern is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
| Natural community | Score |
|---|---|
| Central Poor Fen | 3 |
| Northern Sedge Meadow | 3 |
| Open Bog | 3 |
| Poor Fen | 3 |
| Southern Sedge Meadow | 3 |
| Alder Thicket | 2 |
| Emergent Marsh | 2 |
| Floating-leaved Marsh | 2 |
| Great Lakes Coastal Fen | 2 |
| Moist Sandy Meadow | 2 |
| Muskeg | 2 |
| Wet Prairie | 2 |
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for American Bittern. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.