Dwarf bittern

The dwarf bittern (Ixobrychus sturmii) is a species of heron in the family Ardeidae.

Dwarf bittern
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Genus:	Ixobrychus
Species:	I. sturmii
Binomial name
Ixobrychus sturmii (Wagler, 1827)

Distribution

It is found in Angola, 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.^[1] It is a rare vagrant in the Western Palearctic (which consists of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East), with several sightings in the Canary Islands.^[2] Two individual were observed on the island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands in the winter of 2017.^[3]

Description

It is a small bittern, and the same size as the little bittern, to which it is closely related.

Conservation

It is designated least concern.^[1]

References

1. BirdLife International. (2016). "Ixobrychus sturmii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22697327A93608515. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697327A93608515.en. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
2. Svensson, Lars (2009). "Vagrants". Collins Bird Guide (2nd ed.). HarperCollins. p. 409. ISBN 9780007268146.
3. Kratzer, Daniel; Liundy, Vernon; Ławicki, Łukasz (January 2018). "Two Dwarf Bitterns on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, in winter of 2017/18". Dutch Birding. 40 (2): 98–101. Retrieved 30 April 2020.