Hi Nathan & everyone
In January between the 4th & 7th of 1982, a group of us, including Chris
Corben, David Eades, Anita Smyth, & I discovered several Little (now Australian
Little or Black-backed) Bitterns at Kunanurra, Lily Creek Lagoon. There were
quite a few birds in the reeds there, & they were very active, calling & flying
in & out of reeds. I would have liked nothing better than for them to be Yellow
(& we did look!), however at least some of them (which is written in my notes)
had black backs, so were male Aust Little. The black mantle would preclude
Yellow Bittern. We did see birds with brown mantles too, most likely female
Aust Little Bitterns, but I guess from what I've written you can't rule out
Yellow. There is no doubt that we had male Aust Little Bitterns though.-Kevin
Bartram
> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 17:26:03 +1000
> From:
> To:
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] RFI - Little Bittern Records from Northern Australia &
> a previous live Yellow Bittern Record
>
> Hey everyone!
> The recent sighting of a Yellow Bittern in Brisbane, and particularly its
> previous misidentification as an Australian Little Bittern made me think
> that this mistake has probably been made before. GIS analysis shows that
> the majority of Northern Australia is actually far closer to the regular
> range of Yellow Bittern than it is to Little Bittern.
>
> As such I was wondering if any readers have information, and particularly
> photographs of Little Bitterns from Northern Australia, and if they could,
> would it be possible to forward me the photos? Especially if anyone has
> information of the Lake Argyle population of Little Bitterns. There are no
> specimens from the area, nor photographs that I have been able to find so
> any help there would be appreciated.
>
> Already I have found a previous record of Yellow Bittern on the mainland,
> and in-fact it was the first record that I chased up. The 2011 September
> Little Bittern from Broome, photos available on the Broome Bird
> Observatory's Flyway News from that month -
> http://www.broomebirdobservatory.com/flyways/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_29571.jpg
> - and photographed by Adrian Boyle - http://www.pbase.com/image/140381999.
> The identification has been confirmed by Jeff Davies and key features can
> be seen in both photographs. The photograph of it perched vaguely shows a
> longer bill than is expected in Little Bittern, but more tellingly the bird
> lacks the specific dark stripe down the centre of the throat that a Little
> Bittern should have. In flight the bird shows pure black greater primary
> covert feathers, whereas in Little Bittern they should have brownish
> edging.
>
> Thank you for any information you can provide!
>
> ~Nathan Ruser
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