Black Bittern

Latin Name: 
Dupetor flavicollis
Size: 
58cm
Description: 

An extremely dark, medium-sized heron with a bold yellow neck stripe. The male’s upperparts are dull black, while the female’s are browner; below white-streaked rufous and black and grey belly. The immature is more streaked and the upperpart feathers have buff fringes.

Habitat: 
Inhabits reedbeds with bushes and bushy margins of canals, rivers and jheels. Crepuscular, solitary and extremely secretive. May fly quite high to feeding sites.
Distribution: 
Scarce breeding resident throughout. Most frequent in the Northeast, Sri Lanka and extreme southwest. Appears to be mainly a monsoon breeding visitor to the Northwest.
Call: 
Call Description: 
Occasional harsh ker. Male’s breeding call is a deep boom like a distant foghorn.
National Status: