---
title: "Black Bittern"
description: "Botaurus flavicollis — Birds. The black bittern (Botaurus flavicollis) is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/black-bittern
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black Bittern

> Botaurus flavicollis — Birds. The black bittern (Botaurus flavicollis) is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia.

- Scientific name: *Botaurus flavicollis*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 1220
- Wikidata: [Q131442851](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131442851)
- iNaturalist taxon: [1583069](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1583069)

## Names

- en: Black Bittern
- de: Schwarzrohrdommel
- es: Avetorillo Negro
- fr: Blongios à cou jaune

## Countries with the most observations

IN (347), AU (236), CN (134), TH (125), SG (63), ID (41), LK (37), VN (20), PG (18), BD (15), HK (9), MY (8)

## Summary

The black bittern (Botaurus flavicollis) is a bittern of Old World origin, breeding in tropical Asia from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to China, Indonesia, and Australia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bittern

## Photo

![Black Bittern](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-bittern/medium.jpg)

Photo: wilmotsenaratne · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/361816513

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-bittern?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).