States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaFloridaVirginia
Menu

Bird

American Bittern

Botaurus lentiginosus

A winter visitor to Alabama, found in all 67 counties and 9 habitats.

Here
Winter and on migration
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
9

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Winter and on migration
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
9
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Alabama 9

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 9

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)Regional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Winter

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterMississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Prairies and grasslands

Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County
WinterOnly within 500 m of water.East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous ModifierLimestone prairie. Shown: Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

WinterOnly within 500 m of water.Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field
Other habitats in its models (47)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama.

  • Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Heathland and Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
  • Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Winter.
  • Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
  • South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
  • Recently Logged Areas Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Recently Burned Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Recently Burned Forest Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
  • Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Alabama

  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 54 of 67 counties.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 25 of 67 counties.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 111

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 243

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Alabama. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources