Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Least Bittern FAMILY - Ardeidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Ixobrychus exilis exilis SYNONYMS - Ardea exilis - Gmelin, 1789 REFERENCES - 1 and 2 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Resident, species present all year. 20 Resident, species present all year. 3 Apparently secure in Belize 19 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 19 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 15 District Reference Belize 4 Corozal 6 Orange Walk 5 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Shipstern Nature Reserve Sighting Wet season 6 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 11 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 16 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 9 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary 8 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 9 Lamanai Archaeological Reserve 5 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 18 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 7 Private land, see comments Permanent 14 Government land Dry season 12 Government land Dry season 13 Government land Dry season 14 Hydrologic Association Reference New River Lagoon 16 New River 5 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 16 1-200 m 17 1-200 m 18 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 5 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 14 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 16 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 9 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 12 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 13 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 14 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 17 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 4 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' 10 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' 18 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 11 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 7 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Subtropical moist 18 Subtropical moist 17 Subtropical moist 16 General Distribution Comments 20* Uncommon Mtn. Pine Ridge/savannas on poor soil. Uncommon coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas. Rare mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. 14* Airport Camp, Big Falls Rice Farm 13* Airport Camp 12* Airport Camp 7* Gold Button Ranch; observed nesting 6* Mainly Chacan Chac Mol 3* Uncommon in coastal savannas and mangroves and beaches along the coast of the mainland; fewer than five records from cayes including Ambergris Cayes. References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 5 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 6 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 7 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 8 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 9 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 10 Wood, D. S., R. C. Leberman. 1987. Results of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Expeditions to Belize. III. Distributional Notes on the Birds of Belize. Annals Carnegie Museum. 56(6):137-160. 11 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 12 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished report. 13 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 14 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 15 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 16 Vallely, A. C., A. A. Whitman. 1996. The birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Unpublished report for Programme for Belize. 17 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 18 Panza, R. 1997. Carnegie Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jun. 1, 1997. 19 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 20 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98