BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - There's a secretive bird hiding in the wetlands across the state.
American Bitterns show up in North Dakota in early May and leave in October when the wetlands start to freeze.
”American bitterns are mostly brown with some white on them. But if you take a close look at their breast there’s these dark brown streaks and that really helps them when they’re standing in the cattails or the vegetation, it looks like they’re part of the vegetation so they stand really still and then the prey can’t see them,” said NDGF Conservation Biologist, Sandra Johnson.
American Bitterns stand about 3 feet tall and weigh around 1 pound. They are a wading bird with long legs to help them walk around in wetland vegetation. Bitterns also have a sharp striking bill to catch prey.
“American bitterns will wait until prey comes to them. So they’ll stand very still in the cattails, in the wetland vegetation. They have downward facing eyes. If you look at them straight on you’ll actually see those eyes kind of face down so they’ll just stand there and wait for prey to either swim or fly by them,” said Johnson.
Bitterns are a secretive bird typically found in wetlands. Yet we found a bird nesting in grasslands and placed a camera, and waited for the bird to come back to the nest.
“They’ll build a platform of cattails and reeds just above the water, but occasionally they do nest in the uplands and grassland. Places that you’d find ducks and other birds nesting you might see an American bittern in the grassland. But this is pretty rare, like I said, they’re usually in wetlands, but occasionally they’ll nest in the grasslands,” said Johnson.
A lot of times you won’t see an American Bittern in wetlands, but you certainly know they’re there because of their unique call.
“American bitterns have a very deep call. It’s usually the males that call and it’s a very low call because low sounds travel further across vegetation, thick vegetation. So that’s one way to know that there’s bitterns in the areas, just listen for this deep call,” said Johnson.
To get a peek at this secretive migrant, slow down and look closely for a bird imitating wetland vegetation.
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Searching for a secretive North Dakota bird - KFYR
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