American Bitterns and Least Bitterns, both state-endangered, migrate north to live in sedge meadows during spring and summer. Slender brown birds with lighter and darker vertical stripes, they hide by raising their beaks straight up to look like the tall vegetation around them. American Bitterns are about two feet high while the still rarer Least Bitterns, at 11-14 inches, are the smallest herons in North America. Heard more than seen, bitterns have a booming call that sounds like a congested pump. They eat amphibians, fish, insects and reptiles and build solitary nests among the cattails or bulrushes.
Did you know?
The male has a black patch of androconial scales responsible for dispersing pheromones on the hind wings, and the black veins on its wing are narrower than the female’s. The male is also slightly larger.
Did you know?
Like all insects the Monarch has six legs, however it uses only four of its legs as it carries its two front legs against its body.
Little Rivers Wetlands Project -www.lrwp.org
