Eurasian bittern in Polissia
Botaurus stellaris
The bittern is a stocky heron with a short, thick neck, mottled buff-brown plumage and yellow-green legs. When in danger it points its neck and bill upwards and freezes, blending completely with the reeds.
The bittern lives in dense stands of reed and bulrush on bogs, lakes and ponds. In Polissia it breeds in the floodplains of the Prypiat and Stokhid, on the lakes of Shatsk National Park and on swampy ponds and oxbows.
The most striking thing about the bittern is its voice: a deep, muffled “boo-oom” that the male repeats several times in a row in spring and that can be heard for kilometres. This is where the bird's Ukrainian name, “buhai” (bull), comes from. It feeds on fish, frogs and aquatic insects.
The bittern suffers from spring reed burning and bog drainage. During the breeding season reeds must not be burnt, and it is best not to enter the reedbeds by boat.
When to see: April–June; the call mostly at dusk and at night
Where it was seen in Polissia
Observations from the open scientific database GBIF since 1990.
More in “Birds”
Common snipe
A long-billed bog wader whose spring display flight sounds like bleating – hence its Ukrainian folk name “baranets” (little ram).
Black woodpecker
Europe's largest woodpecker, black with a red cap, a dweller of old pine and mixed forests.
Common kingfisher
A small, brightly coloured bird of Polissia's rivers that dives for fish from a branch above the water.
Eurasian curlew
A large wader with a long, down-curved bill, a dweller of Polissia's meadows and raised bogs.