Stripe-backed Bittern

Botaurus involucris (Vieillot, 1823)

Stripe-backed Bittern, Botaurus involucris, is a South American heron in the family Ardeidae, found from Colombia to Suriname and from southern Bolivia and southern Brazil to central Chile and central Argentina. It lives around freshwater swamps, marshes, lake margins, streams, reed beds, rushes and rice fields. Its range is split into northern and southern populations on both sides of the Andes. The bird is very small, with a pale brown back marked by black and yellowish-beige streaks, darker brown on the crown, a lighter striped underside, and a bill that may be pale green or orange.

Order

Pelecaniformes

Family

Ardeidae — Herons, Bitterns

Breeding range

South America: Colombia to Suriname, s Bolivia and s Brazil to c Chile and c Argentina