Braggart of Bharatpur: Yellow Bittern

Yellow Bittern

Yellow Bittern

(Nikon D5600, 200-500mm lens; 1/500, f/5.6, ISO125; hand-held)

Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis), seen as a resident bird in some parts of India, inhabits freshwater marshes with dense edge-vegetation, especially reeds. It is a small, slender heron with a tawny brown plumage. The crown in a male is greyish-black while that in a female has rufous streaking. Its population has been increasing in Southeast Asia as it has adapted to paddy fields and the farmers there consider the bird beneficial to the crop as it feeds on stem-boring crickets. Hence, its conservation has got linked to preservation of rice field management practices that are conducive to the bird.