Yellow Bittern

Botaurus sinensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

It is a yellowish-brown bittern with a short neck and long bill, the male having a black crown.

Busiest months: December–January · Most records: China, India, Thailand

How to identify

Field marks

Yellowish-brown feathers
Short neck; long bill
Male has a rufous-brown head and neck with a black crown

Male, female and young

The female has rufous stripes on the head, neck and breast; juveniles have rufous stripes almost all over.

Where and when it's recorded

Yellow Bittern has been recorded at 1,166 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 30 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)1,253 records
Changaram Wetlands – EzhupunnaIndia941 records
Khon Kaen University – WTPThailand892 records

More places

Singapore Botanic GardensSingapore871 records
Aogu Wetland IBATaiwan (China)862 records
Baruipur MarshesIndia754 records
Lat Krabang – Thap Yao paddies & aquaculture pondsThailand753 records
Zhu'an IBA – XiapuTaiwan (China)696 records
Jurong Lake GardensSingapore683 records
Marina EastSingapore665 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China India Thailand Singapore Cambodia Sri Lanka Philippines Malaysia

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 yellow bittern (Botaurus sinensis) is a small bittern of Old World origins that breeds in the northern Indian subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan, and Indonesia. It is mainly a resident bird, but some northern birds migrate short distances. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Alaska.

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

Questions

Where does the Yellow Bittern live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic, Indian Ocean, Oriental: Oman, Inner Islands (northeastern Seychelles), Pakistan and Sri Lanka through southeastern Russia and Japan south to Southeast Asia, Indonesian Archipelago, Philippines to western Micronesia. It is most often recorded in China, India and Thailand.

When is the best time to see the Yellow Bittern?

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

What family is the Yellow Bittern in?

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

Range

Palearctic, Indian Ocean, Oriental: Oman, Inner Islands (northeastern Seychelles), Pakistan and Sri Lanka through southeastern Russia and Japan south to Southeast Asia, Indonesian Archipelago, Philippines to western Micronesia

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2