Ixobrychus

Ixobrychus is a genus of bitterns, a group of wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae. It has a single representative species in each of North America, South America, Eurasia, and Australasia. The tropical species are largely resident, but the two northern species are partially migratory, with many birds moving south to warmer areas in winter.

Ixobrychus
Little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Subfamily: Botaurinae
Genus: Ixobrychus
Billberg, 1828
Type species
Ardea minuta
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See text.

The species of the genus Ixobrychus are all small, with their four larger relatives being in the genus Botaurus. They breed in large reedbeds, and can often be difficult to observe except for occasional flight views due to their secretive behaviour. Like other bitterns, they eat fish, frogs, and similar aquatic life.

Taxonomy

The genus Ixobrychus was introduced in 1828 by the Swedish naturalist Gustaf Johan Billberg who listed two members of the genus but did not specify the type species.[1] This was designated as the little bittern by Witmer Stone in 1907.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow.[4]

The genus contains ten species This includes the New Zealand bittern which is now extinct.[5]

Extant species
ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
I. minutusLittle bitternAfrica, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar
I. dubiusBlack-backed bitternAustralia and southern New Guinea
I. cinnamomeusCinnamon bitterntropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia
I. involucrisStripe-backed bitternColombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the island of Trinidad, and in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Brazil
I. exilis Least bitternsouthern Canada to northern Argentina
I. sinensisYellow bitternnorthern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia.
I. eurhythmus Von Schrenck's bitternIndonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, China and Siberia
I. sturmiiDwarf bitternAngola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Spain (the Canary Islands), Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
I. flavicollisBlack bitterntropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia

The New Zealand bittern (Ixobrychus novaezelandiae) is extinct.

References
  1. Billberg, Gustaf Johan (1828). Synopsis Faunae Scandinaviae. Volume 1 Part 2: Aves (in Latin). Holmiae: Ex officina typogr. Caroli Deleen. p. 166.
  2. Stone, Witmer (1907). "Some changes in the current generic names of North American birds". The Auk. 24: 189–199 [192]. doi:10.2307/4070852. JSTOR 4070852.
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 237.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 November 2022.


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