The Bitterns

The Bitterns

        The bitterns belong to the same family as the herons, but differ in having shorter necks and legs, greater length of toes, and backs covered with long feathers. They are found everywhere except in extremely cold lands.
       North America has one strange member of the group, known as the American bittern. This is the time of the year when the American bittern usually attracts most attention, and bird lovers travel far to visit some reedy marsh or muddy river bank blanketed with cat-tails in hopes of hearing his booming - Pump-er-lunk! - Fortunate indeed are those who both hear and see the owner of that penetrating call of the swamps.
       It is a shy, solemn bird and for some reason prefers to live a solitary life. Unlike its cousins the great blue heron or the lovely white heron of the far south, it has no brilliant plumage, no showy egrets or majestic height to show the world. Dressed in gray-brown with stripped markings it blends into its surroundings. Even its eggs are colored like the plant stems and leaves with which the flat moundlike nest is made. When alarmed or surprised it suddenly points the long, spearlike bill straight up into the air, draws back the head and contracts the body until it has the appearance of some old stake, or crouching low slowly backs away and "melts" into the growing plants.
       Like the least bittern, a much smaller cousin, the American bittern is much more often heard than seen. And the famous calls are especially noticeable during the nesting season. Many a superstitious person has had reason to shudder when the air is filled with the booming call note, for it is a weird call and stands out above all the other evening sounds of the marshes. Because of the various syllables and the fact that some are stronger than others, people in different parts of the country have different names for the American bittern. To some, it is the "bog bull" and its call is likened to that of a bull; in another area it may be called a "poke," a "lookup," or an "Indian pullet." The latter is especially heard on Long Island where the American bittern used to be the favorite bird of the Indians. The best known name is the "stake driver." All the strange sounds are made by the taking in of gulps of air which collect in the throat and are increased or decreased with the aid of a kind of bellows made by a peculiar arrangement of the skin and muscles. For a long time no one knew how the sounds were made and many odd stories were invented to explain the calls.
       South America and Mexico also have some very interesting bitterns. The tiger bitterns are especially handsome birds. They are larger and much more vividly colored than their cousins to the north. Some of these South American bitterns are marbled and have large patches of solid color about the heads and shoulders. The tiger bitterns live among the reeds and grasses of the river shores. At dawn and early evening they send forth a call very similar to that of the jaguar, hence the name, "tiger bittern." The Spanish people of South America have always called the jaguar a "tiger."
       The so-called "sun bittern" of South America is not a bittern at all, but belongs to the group of rails. It has the habit of strutting like a peacock to show off the bright colors hidden beneath its somber coat.
       The bitterns of the eastern hemisphere vary greatly in color and size. In India is found the trim, dainty, chestnut-colored Javan bittern about the same size as the least bittern of our own marshes. The European bittern has almost disappeared from certain sections of the continent. In olden times, the flesh was considered a great delicacy and the birds were listed as game birds.
       During the Middle Ages, when hawks known as falcons, were trained for hunting, the bitterns of England were preserved solely for hunters. They not only provided meat but sport, as they are vicious fighters. It is always best to keep away from a wounded bittern. It attacks with both bill and claws. Fluffing the feathers on head and neck, it extends the wings and flies straight toward the eyes of its enemy, so dog and man must beware.
       Due to the protective devices of the bitterns and the fact that they keep to themselves, we should have these interesting birds in our swamps long after other related kinds have been forced to leave. Margaret M. Cornell

American Bitterns by North Dakota 

Game and Fish Department.