The neck is stretched perpendicularly, bill pointing skyward, while the bird freezes and becomes very hard to see among the surrounding reeds.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Uniformly bright rufous upperparts of adult male unmistakable. Female and juvenile have pale streaked belly, dark streaks and spots scattered on the wings and back, and are dark brown with some rufous tones above. Females often have light spotting on the wings, potentially causing confusion with female Schrenck's Bittern, which has brighter and more solid white spots and a prominent dark crown lacking in Cinnamon. Gives dry croaking clicks.
Behavior
The cinnamon bittern ( Botaurus cinnamomeus ) or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern , breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia . It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. Possessing a short neck and longish bill, the male is uniformly cinnamon above and buff below.
Gallery