Habitat
Terrestrial wetlands, and estuarine and littoral habitats. Freshwater springs, rivers and creeks within or fringed by rainforest or woodland. Forage at edge of running or still water.
Voice
A loud, deep, drawn out, booming, 'whooom, whooom', at intervals of 10 - 20 seconds. Also soft, moaning sounds, soft, low, hissing, and a repetitive 'e-eh, e-eh' is uttered at the nest.
Black Bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) [XC202692]
by Harikumar mannar from Pantar Island, mangrove near Maliang (2), Indonesia (call)
Black Bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) [XC705351]
by Frank Lambert from Georgetown, Etheridge Shire, Queensland, Australia (song)
Nest
A small, flatish, unlined structure composed of sticks, twigs and reeds with a shallow depression on top, set on a foundation of coarser sticks, on a horizontal branch of a thick leafy tree, overhanging water.
Eggs (Guide)
Up to 6; slightly glossy, bluish-white; rounded-oval; about 44 x 35 mm. Incubation: by both sexes.
Young
Semi altricial, semi-nidicolous.
Subspecies
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
flavicollis (Latham, 1790) - South-eastern Asia from Pakistan to south-eastern China and south to Indonesia and Philippines.
australis (Lesson, R, 1831) - Moluccas, New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago south to western, northern and eastern Australia.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9