Botaurus lentiginosus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is a species of wading bird in the heron family. It has a Nearctic distribution, breeding in Canada and the northern and central parts of the United States, and wintering in the U.S. Gulf Coast states, all of Florida into the Everglades, the Caribbean islands and parts of Central America.
It is a well-camouflaged, solitary brown bird that unobtrusively inhabits marshes and the coarse vegetation at the edge of lakes and ponds. In the breeding season it is chiefly noticeable by the loud, booming call of the male. The nest is built just above the water, usually among bulrushes and cattails, where the female incubates the clutch of olive-colored eggs for about four weeks. The young leave the nest after two weeks and are fully fledged at six or seven weeks.
The American bittern feeds mostly on fish but also eats other small vertebrates as well as crustaceans and insects. It is fairly common over its wide range, but its numbers are thought to be decreasing, especially in the south, because of habitat degradation. However the total population is large, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "Least Concern". Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Voyageurs National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 10 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Academy of Sciences | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cameron Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Wild Bird Fund | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an American Bittern sighting in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, based on 128 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 199 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and December–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Bittern in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–November, the lowest months. Those are among Big Cypress National Preserve's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 260 mm in June.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Bittern sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate American Bittern sightings, Big Cypress National Preserve ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 10%).
Same family: Ardeidae
The closest relatives of the American Bittern that you can see in Big Cypress National Preserve (family Ardeidae, Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) are Great Egret (about 80%), Great Blue Heron (about 70%) and Little Blue Heron (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Bittern is recorded against all the birds logged in Big Cypress National Preserve (128 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
