American Bitterns are medium-sized herons with thick, compact bodies. They have shorter legs and thicker necks than typical herons and a slightly hunched posture. The daggerlike bill is long, straight, and sharply pointed. The wings are broad but the wingtips are somewhat pointed.

Extensive freshwater marshes are the favored haunts of this large, stout, solitary heron. It is seldom seen as it slips through the reeds, but its odd pumping or booming song, often heard at dusk or at night, carries for long distances across the marsh.

The American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is a species of wading bird in the heron family. It has a Nearctic distribution, breeding in Canada and the northern and central parts of the United States, and wintering in the U.S. Gulf Coast states, all of Florida into the Everglades, the Caribbean islands and parts of Central America.

You'll need sharp eyes to catch sight of an American Bittern. This streaky, brown and buff heron can materialize among the reeds, and disappear as quickly, especially when striking a concealment pose with neck stretched and bill pointed skyward.

The American Bittern is a medium-sized heron of approximately 60-85cm in length. Adult plumage is brown with heavy white streaks. A distinguishing feature of this bird is a black streak that extends from the eye down the side of its neck. Males and females are similar in appearance, but males are slightly larger.

American Bitterns are fairly common, but their numbers declined in some regions of the U.S. and Canada between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

A shy wetland denizen, the chunky, mid-sized American Bittern is more often heard than seen. If spotted and approached, this marsh bird prefers to freeze in place, not fly away as a Green Heron or Great Egret might.

Listen for its incredible vocalization in the spring and summer: a resonant, booming noise produced by air sacs on the neck, “oonk-GA-loonk.” Also gives single low squawks. Learn more about American Bittern from… Stocky, brown heron found in marshes and bogs. Usually secretive and difficult to see, but occasionally found in the open.

There are two species of bitterns seen in North America, they are the American Bittern and the Least Bittern. The Yellow Bittern, is a vagrant from Asia, that has been spotted. Bitterns live in the marshes and along lagoons and waterways, preferring long grasses and cattails.

American Bittern is the larger species of the two natice bitterns in North America. When this bird feels threatened, it will point its bill into the sky to blend into the tall grasses and cattails around it.