Black bittern
| Black or Malay bobble | ||||||||||||
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Black bittern in flight |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ixobrychus flavicollis | ||||||||||||
| ( Latham , 1790) |
The black or Malaiendommel ( Ixobrychus flavicollis ) is a bird art from the family of herons . The distribution area of this species is Southeast Asia and Australia.
features
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The black bittern is a small heron bird with a body length of about 54 to 66 centimeters. The wingspan is 80 centimeters. The weight varies between 300 and 420 grams.
Its plumage is predominantly black, only on the underside of the head and neck it has yellowish feathers, from which its scientific name is derived.
The black bittern is a very shy species that occurs singly or in pairs in the dense vegetation along the banks of flowing waters, swamps, billabongs, floodplains and mangroves. During the rest phases it stays in dense vegetation. Startled black bitterns do not fly up at first, but constantly seek cover in denser vegetation. Occasionally they adopt the post position typical of the drum, with the beak pointing straight up. Black bitterns are powerful fliers, with their heads leaning back when in flight.
distribution and habitat
Like most tommels, it inhabits wetlands and swamps that are densely covered with reed beds . But you can also find them in mangroves and on rice fields. Their distribution area includes all of South and Southeast Asia from India to the Philippines . You can also find them in Australia . There it occurs in a wide strip along the coastal areas of northern and eastern Australia. There is also an isolated occurrence in southern Western Australia between Perth and Esperance . It was originally widespread in southwestern Western Australia, but its population there decreased significantly in the second half of the 20th century.
behavior
The black bittern is nocturnal and hides in the reeds or undergrowth during the day . It feeds on small fish , frogs , molluscs and insects . The female lays four light green or light blue eggs . The young birds are raised by their parents together, but otherwise the black bittern lives as a loner.
supporting documents
literature
- Jiří Felix (eds.), Květoslav Hísek: Asian fauna in color. Translated from the Czech by Ingeborg Šestáková. Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1991.
- Bikram Grewal: Birds in India and Nepal. Giessen 2000.
- PJ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to Ducks. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1990, ISBN 0-19-553068-3
Web links
- Ixobrychus flavicollis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ixobrychus flavicollis in the Internet Bird Collection