Field Guide
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Little Bittern
Ixobrychus minutus
Not yet photographed by the community
Very rare; tiny heron lurking in dense reedbeds.
Species Profile
Amber List (scarce breeder, few breeding pairs in UK)
- Lifespan
- 5–8 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 33–38 cm, wingspan 49–58 cm; 140–200 g
- Habitat
- Dense reedbeds, wetlands, and freshwater marshes with tall vegetation and shallow water.
- UK Distribution
- Scarce summer visitor to southern and central England, primarily April to September. Occasionally winters in small numbers in southern regions.
- Diet
- Small fish, amphibians, aquatic insects, and occasionally small reptiles and crustaceans.
- Prey
- Fish, tadpoles, newts, dragonfly nymphs, water beetles
- Predators
- Foxes, stoats, weasels, gulls, corvids, and birds of prey such as Marsh Harriers and Sparrowhawks
- Mating Season
- April to July
- Breeding
- Clutch of 4–5 eggs, incubation period 17–19 days, typically one brood per season. Nest built as a platform of reeds over water.
- Behaviour
- Highly secretive and crepuscular, spending most time hidden in dense vegetation. Males produce a distinctive deep, resonant booming call during breeding season. Solitary and territorial, rarely seen in the open.
- •One of Europe's smallest herons, easily overlooked due to cryptic plumage and elusive behaviour
- •The male's booming call can be heard from up to 1 km away in suitable conditions
- •UK population has declined significantly and is now one of the rarest regularly occurring herons
- •They hunt by standing motionless in shallow water, waiting to strike at passing prey
- •Little Bitterns can compress their bodies to slip through dense reeds almost invisibly
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