Black-backed Bittern (Botaurus dubius)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Black-backed Bittern

Botaurus dubius (Mathews, 1912)

The black-backed bittern (Botaurus dubius), also known as the black-backed least bittern or Australian little bittern, is a little-known species of heron in the family Ardeidae found in Australia and vagrant to southern New Guinea.

Busiest months: January · Most records: Australia

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: January · Most records: Australia

Black-backed Bittern has been recorded at 52 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 1 country or region.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. Sandy Camp Road WetlandsAustralia296 records
  2. Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature ReserveAustralia221 records
  3. Tyto WetlandsAustralia134 records
More places
  1. Herdsman LakeAustralia118 records
  2. Parklakes WetlandsAustralia77 records
  3. Karkarook ParkAustralia76 records
  4. Sydney ParkAustralia34 records
  5. Fivebough WetlandsAustralia30 records
  6. Gemmill Swamp Wildlife ReserveAustralia29 records
  7. Lake WallaceAustralia27 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Australia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The black-backed bittern (Botaurus dubius), also known as the black-backed least bittern or Australian little bittern, is a little-known species of heron in the family Ardeidae found in Australia and vagrant to southern New Guinea. Formerly lumped with the little bittern, it is one of the smallest herons in the world. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

Where does the Black-backed Bittern live?

Its breeding range: Australasia: patchily in south-central, north-central, southeastern New Guinea and far southwestern Western Australia, northeastern Western Australia to southern Victoria (southwestern, northern, eastern Australia). It is most often recorded in Australia.

When is the best time to see the Black-backed Bittern?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January (Southern Hemisphere).

What family is the Black-backed Bittern in?

It belongs to the family Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae), order Pelecaniformes.

Range

Australasia: patchily in south-central, north-central, southeastern New Guinea and far southwestern Western Australia, northeastern Western Australia to southern Victoria (southwestern, northern, eastern Australia)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Family
Herons, Bitterns Ardeidae
Genus
Botaurus

Other birds in the genus Botaurus

Eurasian BitternEurasian BitternBotaurus stellarisAustralasian BitternAustralasian BitternBotaurus poiciloptilusAmerican BitternAmerican BitternBotaurus lentiginosusPinnated BitternPinnated BitternBotaurus pinnatusStripe-backed BitternStripe-backed BitternBotaurus involucrisLeast BitternLeast BitternBotaurus exilisBlack BitternBlack BitternBotaurus flavicollisCinnamon BitternCinnamon BitternBotaurus cinnamomeusVon Schrenck's BitternVon Schrenck's BitternBotaurus eurhythmusDwarf BitternDwarf BitternBotaurus sturmiiLittle BitternLittle BitternBotaurus minutusYellow BitternYellow BitternBotaurus sinensis
Black-backed Bittern

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Steve Murray (sjmurray55). ↗

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