LC
American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Perrins, C.M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cramp, S.; Perrins, C. M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 17,600,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 11,500,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown poor estimated 2009
Population trend decreasing - estimated -
Generation length 5.5 years - - -

Trend justification: This species has undergone a small or statistically insignificant decrease over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007).


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Antigua and Barbuda extant native
Bahamas extant native
Barbados extant native
Belize extant native yes
Bermuda (to UK) extant native
Canada extant native
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native
Costa Rica extant native yes
Cuba extant native
Denmark extant vagrant
Dominica extant native
Dominican Republic extant native
El Salvador extant native
Faroe Islands (to Denmark) extant vagrant
Greenland (to Denmark) extant vagrant
Guadeloupe (to France) extant native
Guatemala extant native
Haiti extant native
Honduras extant native
Iceland extant vagrant
Ireland extant vagrant
Jamaica extant vagrant
Martinique (to France) extant native
Mexico extant native
Montserrat (to UK) extant native
Nicaragua extant native
Norway extant vagrant
Panama extant vagrant
Portugal extant vagrant
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native
Spain extant vagrant
St Kitts and Nevis extant native
St Lucia extant native
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) extant native yes yes
St Vincent and the Grenadines extant native
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native
United Kingdom extant vagrant
USA extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to UK) extant vagrant
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant vagrant

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands major breeding
Altitude 1500 - 2700 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/american-bittern-botaurus-lentiginosus on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.