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Wildlife
- Birds - |
Least Bittern
(Ixobrychus exilis) M |
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RANGE: Breeds locally from southern to
central Baja California and southern coastal Sonora in the west;
in the east across Canada from southern Manitoba, southern
Ontario, and southern New Brunswick south to Texas, the Gulf
Coast, Florida, and the Greater Antilles. Winters from southern
California, southern Texas, and northern Florida south to Panama
and Colombia.
STATUS: Locally common, but elusive.
HABITAT: Inhabits freshwater marshes, bogs, and swamps with
dense cattails, reeds, bulrushes, buttonbush, sawgrass,
smartweeds, arrowheads, and other tall aquatic and semi-aquatic
vegetation. Prefers marshes with scattered bushes or other woody
growth. Less commonly found in coastal brackish marshes and
mangrove swamps. Usually is hidden in tall vegetation, and slips
away by walking or climbing through reeds or even by running
through them 2 to 3 feet above water, grasping a single reed or
several in each foot.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Freshwater wetlands surrounded by
tall aquatic vegetation.
NEST: Nests singly in dense stands of emergent vegetation 6 to
24 inches above water that is 3 to 38 inches deep, and close to
open water. Uses natural clump of the previous year's vegetation
to form the foundation of the nest. Occasionally nests in
bushes, and more rarely, on the ground.
FOOD: Feeds on the open water side of emergents, and captures
small fish. Also takes frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, leeches,
mollusks, crustaceans, insects, lizards, slugs, and occasionally
small mammals.
REFERENCES: Low and Mansell 1983, Palmer 1962, Terres 1980,
Weller 1961. |
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