American Bittern

The American Bittern has only been reported once at Salter Grove.  Most likely a migrant from further north, it was photographed in late November 2007 as it flew from marshy vegetation south of the causeway towards the marshy strip along Rock Island.  It's one of the least well-studied bird species because of its furtive behavior and the difficulty of movement for researchers within the marshy habitats it inhabits.

It nests in freshwater marshes with thick stands of tall cat-tails and sedges throughout southern Canada and the northern United States.  Its winter months are spent in the southern U.S. to Central America in marsh habitats that do not freeze so it can access aquatic animals such as insects, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals living in shallow water.

Despite its attention-grabbing call, a mechanical sounding "pump-per-lunk", the American Bittern is difficult to spot, even by experienced birders.  Its streaky plumage stetches from the skyward-pointing beak down the long throat to its belly to help the bird disappear among the vertical stems of marsh plants. 

Adding further to the feathery subterfuge, its body can either remain perfectly still, or move gently along with surrounding vegetation swayed by wind.  Besides helping to escape detection by predators and human observers, these characteristics also work in ambushing unwary prey.

The female is solely responsible for building the nest and care of young which frees males to sometimes mate with more than one female in a single breeding season.  When disturbed, nestlings instinctively point their beaks skyward and remain still for long moments to avoid detection.  Surprisingly, adults out in the open will also adopt this posture when alarmed.

The American Bittern is documented to breed in Massachusetts and Connecticut but is considered endangered in both states because of low abundance.  The general decline in numbers throughout its range is attributed to loss of suitable habitat.  It is doubly vulnerable as a migrant because it returns to the same general areas for breeding and wintering activities.

The American Bittern was historically quite abundant in Rhode Island until market hunting brought numbers way down.  By the late 1800's it was an uncommon summer resident but still a common migrant.  Suitable nesting habitats currently exist in Rhode Island, but general surveys for two breeding bird atlases published in 1992 and 2023 did not present concrete evidence of breeding.  However, the sighting of a juvenile too young to fly at a South Kingstown dock in July 2002 suggests that intense surveys of marshes may uncover more breeding individuals.

For more information:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Bittern
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-bittern
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bittern
https://blog.nature.org/2019/03/11/meet-the-bizarre-american-bittern/
https://corkscrew.audubon.org/news/american-bittern-connecticut-tracked-corkscrew-swamp-sanctuary

Clarkson, C. E., Osenkowski, J. E., Steen, V. A., Duhaime, R. J., and Paton, W.C. (2023) The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Rhode Island.  Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Fish and Wildlife.  pp. 146-147.

Howe, Jr., R.H. and Sturtevant, E. (1899) The Birds of Rhode Island. p. 43.