Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis Scientific name definitions

30–40 cm; 81–104 g (1 Melville, D. S., and P. D. Round (1984). Weights and gonad conditions of some Thai birds. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 104(4):127–138. Close , 2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 3 Round, P.D., Ul Haque, E., Dymond, N., Pierce, A.J. and Thompson, P.M. (2014). Ringing and ornithological exploration in north-east Bangladesh wetlands. Forktail. 30: 109–121. Close ); wingspan 45–53 cm (4 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 5 Brazil, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Eastern Russia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Male has dull black to blue-grey crown  and crest, brown forehead, sandy-brown throat streaked brown, buff neck-sides, rufous to sandy-brown back, often with pinkish to maroon wash, pale wing-coverts contrasting with blackish flight feathers  , grey underwing with pale coverts, sandy-brown underparts and black tail; long, thin, ivory-coloured bill , with darker maxilla and red base in courtship, yellow eyes, yellow-green lores and legs. Female  has indistinctly streaked crown  , rufous hindneck and upper back, dark red-brown and buff-streaked underparts, with black on breast-sides, chestnut-buff streaking on throat and darker wing patches than male. Separated from slightly larger and shorter-billed I. minutus by brown (not black) back and yellow-buff (not grey-buff to white) wing patches (they breed synptopically in SW Oman), while present species is separated from marginally larger I. eurhythmus by paler upperparts and more contrasting upperwing, while from juvenile of latter species it is distinguished by lack of pale spotting on upperwing; from I. cinnamomeus by slightly smaller size and tawny-brown (not cinnamon) general coloration. Juvenile  browner, lacks dark crown but is obviously streaked over head, back and underparts (being the most obviously streaked Ixobrychus at this age) and shows less contrast between pale wing patches and dark flight feathers than I. minutus at any age (6 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ); bill has dark maxilla and yellow mandible, legs olive-yellow and eyes yellow. Probably achieves adult plumage in second year.

Oman; Seychelles; Indian Subcontinent, SE Russia and Japan through C & E China and Taiwan to SE Asia, Greater and Lesser Sundas, Philippines, New Guinea (possibly), N Solomons (Bougainville) and W Micronesia. N populations migrate to S of range, to S India, Philippines and Indonesia, some reaching Wallacea and New Guinea.

Mostly in freshwater marshes ; also reedbeds and other dense aquatic vegetation fringing lakes, in riverside shrubs, inland swamps, rice paddies and flooded fields; in parts of China occurs in mangroves. From lowlands into hills, occurring up to 900 m in India, 1200 m in Sri Lanka and 1500 m in Sumatra.

N populations (S to C China and those in NW India) migrate to S of range, to Philippines and Indonesia, some birds reaching Wallacea (e.g. Alor (7 Trainor, C. R., P. Verbelen, and R. E. Johnstone (2012). The avifauna of Alor and Pantar, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia. Forktail 28:77–92. Close ) and Kai Is) (8 Johnstone, R. E., and S. (B.) van Balen (2013). The birds of the Kai and Tayandu Islands, Maluku region, Indonesia. Western Australian Naturalist 29(1):11–56. Close ) and New Guinea; leave in Oct and return in mid Apr to late May (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Passes through Thai-Malay Peninsula Oct–Dec (mainly Nov) and Mar–Apr, with apparent faithfulness to winter and staging sites proven by retraps in subsequent seasons (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Migration takes place by night. S populations (including some of S Japan, S China, N Burma and N Indochina) sedentary. Resident in NE India (Assam, Cachar, NW Maharashtra), E Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with some local movements related to water conditions; however, those breeding in NW Indian Subcontinent (from Indus Valley of Pakistan E to Gangetic Plain) move S in winter as far as Sri Lanka (6 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Perhaps mainly summer visitor to SW Oman (late Apr to late Nov), although records are available from all months (10 Eriksen, J., and R. Victor (2013). Oman Bird List: the Official List of the Birds of the Sultanate of Oman. Seventh edition. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Close ). Long-distance migration has permitted colonization of remote Pacific islands and Seychelles (where perhaps only vagrant on Aride and Curieuse) (11 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Accidental to Maldives (12 Ash, J. S., and A. Shafeeg (1994). Birds of the Maldive Islands, Indian Ocean. Forktail 10:3–32. Close ), Chagos Is (annual), Lakshadweep Is, mainland Australia (Queensland and Western Australia) (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), Cocos  (Keeling) Is and Christmas I  (Indian Ocean) (13 Palliser, T., and M. Carter (2013). Rare birds: the 2012 BARC report. Australian Birdlife 2(4):50–53. Close ), with single record in North America, in Alaska (Attu I, W Aleutians) in May 1989 (14 Gibson, D. D., and B. Kessel (1992). Seventy-four new avian taxa documented in Alaska, 1976–1991. Condor 94(2):454–467. Close ). A record from S England, in Nov 1962, is considered to have been correctly identified, but has not been accepted (15 Melling, T., McGowan, R.Y. and Lewington, I. (2008). The Dorset Yellow Bittern. British Birds. 101(3): 137–141. Close ).

Mainly aquatic insects and their larvae (e.g. Diptera, Libellulidae, Coenagrionidae, Diplonychus japonicus) (16 Barthel, P.H. and Hering, J. (2013). Die Biologie und Bestimmung der Chinadommel Ixobrychus sinensis. Limicola. 26(4): 279–309. Close ); also small fish (e.g. loaches, Carassius auratus, Trichogaster, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Pseudorasbora parva) (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close , 2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 16 Barthel, P.H. and Hering, J. (2013). Die Biologie und Bestimmung der Chinadommel Ixobrychus sinensis. Limicola. 26(4): 279–309. Close ), crustaceans  (crayfish and freshwater prawns) (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), frogs (e.g. Hyla arborea) (16 Barthel, P.H. and Hering, J. (2013). Die Biologie und Bestimmung der Chinadommel Ixobrychus sinensis. Limicola. 26(4): 279–309. Close ), molluscs, crickets, lizards (17 Craig, R. J. (1996). Seasonal population surveys and natural history of a Micronesian bird community. Wilson Bulletin 108(2):246–267. Close ). In Malaysia, compared to I. cinnamomeus, appears to take more terrestrial invertebrates (52% of diet versus 41%), with other main constituents of diet fish (16%) and amphibians (4%), and 28% unidentified (18 Lansdown, R.V. and Rajanathan, R. (1993). Some aspects of the ecology of Ixobrychus bitterns nesting in Malaysia ricefields. Colonial Waterbirds. 16(1): 98–101. Close ). Sometimes catches flies in flight (Standing Flycatching). Solitary and secretive, typically forages by Standing and Walking Slowly, but also Gleaning, Running and Hopping (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, but sometimes active on overcast days.

Following vocalizations have been described: soft, repetitive, up- and downslurred “oo-oo-oo” or “crrw, crrw”, given at rate of c. 1 note per c. 2 seconds, in display, territory defence, advertisment, and with large young, by day or night (likened to Geopalia dove, but more continuous and monotonous), a staccato, dry “kakak, kakak” or “kik-kik-kik” in flight  , a loud, repeated guttural grunting “ohr” and a similar call, albeit much softer, when arriving at nest with food (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close , 6 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).

Starts spring in N, May–Aug in Egypt (19 Hering, J., Barthel, P.H., Eilts, H.-J., Frommolt, K.-H., Fuchs, E., Heim, W., Müller, K. and Päckert, M. (2013). Die Chinadommel Ixobrychus sinensis am Roten Meer in Ägypten – erste Nachweise eines übersehenen westpaläarktischen Brutvogels. Limicola. 26(4): 253–278. Close ), Japan and China (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); Jun–Sept in India, related to monsoons; young recorded May–Nov in SW Oman (20 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ); laying mainly Jul–Oct in Malay Peninsula (but nests with eggs or young found all months except Jan–Mar) (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); Feb–May in Philippines (4 Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson, H. C. Miranda, and T. H. Fisher (2000). A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); May on Sumbawa (Indonesia); Sept and Jan in Seychelles (11 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); Sept–Apr in Solomon Is; Feb on Saipan (Mariana Is) (17 Craig, R. J. (1996). Seasonal population surveys and natural history of a Micronesian bird community. Wilson Bulletin 108(2):246–267. Close ). Normally solitary, but can form small groups at favourable sites (21 Uchida, H. & Matsuda, T. (1990) Colonial breeding of the Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis. Japanese Journal of Ornithology 39(2): 53–61. Close ), with up to six nests reported in same tree but little or no synchronicity within colony (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Mean nesting density of 11·4 pairs/ha reported in China, but up to 31·18 pairs/ha in irrigated rice fields (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Nests usually less than 3 m (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) above water or mud, in bushes or herbaceous plants within reeds, grass, cattails, bulrushes, wild sugarcane or bamboo, or in mangroves, occasionally taller trees (e.g. Ficus and mangos), often near rice paddies and usually close to open water (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); nest slight platform of grass and leaves, 145–250 mm in diameter, 60–110 mm thick and 60–110 mm tall (21 Uchida, H. & Matsuda, T. (1990) Colonial breeding of the Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis. Japanese Journal of Ornithology 39(2): 53–61. Close ), usually with canopy of foliage and constructed by female (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Reported to be sometimes double- or even triple-brooded (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Normally 4–6 greenish-white or greenish-blue eggs (3–7), laid at one-day intervals, mean size 30–33 mm × 23–24·5 mm (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); incubation c. 17–20 days (21 Uchida, H. & Matsuda, T. (1990) Colonial breeding of the Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis. Japanese Journal of Ornithology 39(2): 53–61. Close ), by both sexes, commencing with first egg (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close , 2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); chicks hatch asynchronously and have pinkish down, yellow eyes and other bare parts pale yellow-green (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); start to clamber about nest at c. 15 days and abandon it completely at 20 days (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Inter-specific parasitism reported in Japan, where Common Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus) laid eggs in 3% of nests of present species (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). No further information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common to frequent in many areas, e.g. Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Borneo (winter) and Philippines , where generally considered commonest of small bitterns (2 Kushlan, J. A., and J. A. Hancock (2005). The Herons. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), but apparently rare in parts of Indochina (e.g. Cambodia) (22 Thomas, W.W. and Poole, C.M. (2003). An annotated list of the birds of Cambodia from 1859 to 19711139. Forktail 19: 1111393–127. Close ); 176 counted in China, c. 1400 at L Tempe, S Sulawesi, Jan 1990. Breeding range in Malay Peninsula spread S to Singapore in 1980s (9 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). However, precise breeding range further E very unclear, e.g. probably breeds in Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan (Borneo, where mainly a winter visitor) (23 Gönner, C. (2000). Birds of Lake Jempang and the middle Mahakam wetlands, East Kalimantan. Kukila 11:13–36. Close , 24 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo: An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union, and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close ), recently confirmed to be resident (and probably breeding) on Timor (and probably so on Bali and Sumba) (25 Trainor, C. R. (2011). The waterbirds and coastal seabirds of Timor-Leste: new site records clarifying residence status, distribution and taxonomy. Forktail 27:63–72. Close , 7 Trainor, C. R., P. Verbelen, and R. E. Johnstone (2012). The avifauna of Alor and Pantar, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia. Forktail 28:77–92. Close ), with one record of nesting on Sumbawa, and is even known to breed on Bougainville (Solomon Is), but not elsewhere in Melanesia (26 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Population on Saipan (Mariana Is) most recently estimated at c. 1400 birds and has increased substantially since 1982 (27 Camp, R. J., T. K. Pratt, A. P. Marshall, F. Amidon, and L. L. Williams (2009). Recent status and trends of the land bird avifauna on Saipan, Mariana Islands, with emphasis on the endangered Nightingale Reed-warbler Acrocephalus luscinia. Bird Conservation International 19(4):323–337. Close ). Extralimital to main range: species first recorded in SW Oman in 1984, but presence not confirmed until 1997 (28 Eriksen, H. and Eriksen, J. (1999). The first records of Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis in Oman and Arabia. Sandgrouse. 21(2): 178–179. Close ) though now known to breed at several sites and recorded at several localities in N Oman (20 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close , 10 Eriksen, J., and R. Victor (2013). Oman Bird List: the Official List of the Birds of the Sultanate of Oman. Seventh edition. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Close ); first definitely recorded on Socotra (Yemen) in Nov 1999 (29 Aspinall, S. J., Porter, R. F. and Al-Saghier, O. (2004). Four new bird species in Yemen from Socotra. Sandgrouse. 26(1): 48–51. Close ), where perhaps breeds but unproven to date, with records in Jan, May and Oct–Dec (20 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ); even more recently (Apr 2012) discovered breeding at three mangrove sites in SE Egypt (30 van den Berg, A.B. and Haas, M. (2013). WP reports. Dutch Birding. 35(5): 333–342. Close , 19 Hering, J., Barthel, P.H., Eilts, H.-J., Frommolt, K.-H., Fuchs, E., Heim, W., Müller, K. and Päckert, M. (2013). Die Chinadommel Ixobrychus sinensis am Roten Meer in Ägypten – erste Nachweise eines übersehenen westpaläarktischen Brutvogels. Limicola. 26(4): 253–278. Close , 31 Päckert, M., Hering, J., Fuchs, E., Barthel, P. and Heim, W. (2014). Genetic barcoding confirms first breeding record of the Yellow Bittern, Ixobrychus sinensis, (Aves: Pelecaniformes, Ardeidae) in the Western Palearctic. Vertebrate Zoology. 64(2): 251–260. Close ), with an addition claim from the Nile Valley (32 Ławicki, Ł., and A. B. van den Berg (2015). WP reports. Dutch Birding 37(5):340–353. Close ), and a record of two individuals at a mangrove in Djibouti in Jan 2014 (33 Hering, J., H. Hering, and H. A. Rayaleh (2015). First records for Djibouti of Hottentot Teal Anas hottentota, Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis, Savi’s Warbler Locustella luscinioides and Mangrove Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus avicenniae. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 22(1):78–82. Close ). In China and upland Borneo protected and considered beneficial by rice growers, as it eats stem-boring crickets in paddyfields. Considered rare and local in Melanesia (26 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Population of Seychelles estimated at under 100 pairs at end of 1970s and 228 birds in 1990–2000, declining due to habitat destruction for agriculture and infrastructural developments (11 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).