Cinnamon Bittern

The cinnamon bittern, or chestnut bittern, is a small bittern 38–41cm long with a wingspan of about 49.5cm, weighing 89.5–164g. It has a short neck and longish bill; the male is uniformly cinnamon above and buff below, the female similar but with a brown back and crown, and the juvenile heavily streaked brown below. It was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia and is mainly resident, with some northern birds migrating short distances. It occurs at varying elevations, up to 2,800–4,000m in Bhutan. It breeds in reed beds, nesting on platforms of reeds in shrubs, with incubation of about 23 days, and feeds on insects, fish and molluscs. When alarmed it takes the characteristic bittern 'on-guard' posture (Wikipedia, general species account).