The American Bittern is a secretive marsh heron with heavily streaked brown plumage that provides perfect camouflage among cattails and reed stems. When alarmed, it points its bill skyward, sways gently like reeds in the wind, and becomes almost invisible. The male's booming, pump-like call — 'oong-ka-CHUNK' — carries over a mile across marshes at dawn and dusk.
Habitat
Freshwater marshes with dense cattails and tall emergent vegetation
Diet
Fish, frogs, snakes, crayfish, and small rodents
How common
Uncommon
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