The Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris) is a reclusive bird belonging to the heron family. Close to the size of a chicken, bitterns are a mix of golden-brown mottled with delicate black and tan. With long, green legs and large feet, these birds are adapted for skulking through reedbeds – the bits of wetland covered by dense patches of common reed – to quietly hunt fish and amphibians.
Often invisible, their presence in freshwater marshes is given away by a low-pitched booming note that can be heard at great distances – especially in early spring, as males set up and defend territories. The call is an eerie noise if you are lucky enough to hear it. In the past it provoked superstition and even fear of bitterns, their call being thought to portend some impending doom. Thankfully, times and attitudes to bitterns have changed.
