Or perhaps Dubious Bittern? After all, the Latin name is (now)
Botaurus dubius.
And that name may be fitting if (as Wikipedia says, although I could not find a convincing source for this) molecular evidence has it more closely
related to the Yellow Bittern (Botaurus sinensis) than to the African and Palaearctic forms of the Little Bittern (Botaurus minutus). If that’s correct, we could also consider Australian Yellow Bittern or even Little Yellow Bittern…! As Geoffrey
originally noted, the black back is not a particularly characteristic feature in any case.
Steve
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Rob Geraghty via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 4 November 2025 7:50 PM
To: Anthony Overs <>
Cc: CanberraBirds email list <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] FW: Maybe we should call it Tiny Bittern :)
Itsy, bitsy, teeny weeny little polka dot Bittern?
On Tue, 4 Nov 2025 at 19:41, Anthony Overs via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
Diminutive Bittern? Too quaint?
Puny Bittern? A bit mean?
Wee Bittern? Too Scottish?
On Tue, 4 Nov 2025 at 18:34, Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
Yes Philip. A few Tinys out there. I would spare our readers (if any), except these two recent explanations of changes in the IOC list are irresistible
‘Change English name of
Tyranneutes stolzmanni, a manakin, from Dwarf Tyranneutes to Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin
Change English name of
Tyranneutes virescens, a manakin, from Tiny Tyranneutes to Tiny Tyrant-Manakin’
These are the folk who say taxonomic accuracy is not an important issue with English names.
From: Canberrabirds
<>
On Behalf Of Philip Veerman via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 4 November 2025 5:18 PM
To: 'CanberraBirds email list' <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] FW: Maybe we should call it Tiny Bittern :)
How many Leasts, Littles, Lessers, Dwarfs, somethings bird names are there? Plus Fairy, which probably
meant the same thing? I am not aware of a Tiny. Several of the opposite too; Greats, Greaters, Giants, I don’t think we will ever get a fully accurate and appealing set of names, with so fe new words and so many birds.
From: Canberrabirds
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 4 November, 2025 10:22 AM
To: Canberrabirds
Subject: [Canberrabirds] FW: Maybe we should call it Tiny Bittern :)
Maybe, Shorty, but that is not a comparative label, and an American relative has claimed the title ‘Least Bittern’. Cornell Lab Birds of the World
gives our chap as 59-120g, which is from HANZAB 1990 which gives mean of that sample as 83.9g (all Sept-Mar). Pretty old information- It seems bittern-weighing has fallen from fashion, with so many other attractions for young people these days.. Cornell’s
mean for male Least Bittern is 78.2g. I haven’t checked other species in group. All pretty small birds though. That Australasian Grebe paddling past the ALB is 100-230g. It would lose the stretched-length competition, though.
From: Canberrabirds
<>
On Behalf Of shorty via Canberrabirds
Sent: Friday, 24 October 2025 6:11 PM
To: Canberra birds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] Maybe we should call it Tiny Bittern :)
Catching plenty of Dragonflies this afternoon.
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