Bird
Least Bittern
Ixobrychus exilis
A summer resident that nests in Alabama. Found in all 67 counties, across 9 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 9
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests 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
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
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.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Other habitats in its models (42)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (14)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
Northeast (4)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer and winter.
- Great Lakes Freshwater Estuary and Delta Summer and winter.
- Laurentian-Acadian Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Midwest (2)
- Northern Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depression Wetland Summer and winter.
West (10)
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Fen Summer and winter.
- Mediterranean California Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer and winter.
- North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
- North American Warm Desert Lower Montane Riparian Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Hypermaritime Shrub and Herbaceous Headland Summer and winter, only within 500 m of water.
- North Pacific Intertidal Freshwater Wetland Summer and winter.
- North Pacific Shrub Swamp Summer and winter.
- Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Fen Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Summer and winter.
- Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (12)
- Acadian Salt Marsh and Estuary Systems Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Great Lakes Coastal Marsh Systems Summer and winter.
- Laurentian-Acadian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
- Laurentian-Acadian Swamp Systems Summer and winter.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
Seasons in Alabama
- Summer: nests here, in all 67 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 118
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Plants 134
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Cruise's GoldenasterChrysopsis cruiseana
- Godfrey's Golden AsterChrysopsis godfreyi
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Agalinis harperiAgalinis harperi
- Panicum amarum var. amarumPanicum amarum var. amarum
- Largeleaf PennywortHydrocotyle bonariensis
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Pinewoods FingergrassEustachys petraea
- Gulf Coast Sea RocketCakile constricta
Coastal Plain seepage bogs
Birds 51
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Yellow RailCoturnicops noveboracensis
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- King RailRallus elegans
- Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
- Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
- American CootFulica americana
Plants 65
- Shortleaf SneezeweedHelenium brevifolium
- Coastal SedgeCarex exilis
- Coastal Plain BeaksedgeRhynchospora stenophylla
- Slender-fruit BeaksedgeRhynchospora leptocarpa
- Savannah AsterSymphyotrichum chapmanii
- Variableleaf SunflowerHelianthus heterophyllus
- LeConte's ThistleCirsium lecontei
- Southeastern Cut Leaf Cone FlowerRudbeckia laciniata var. digitata
- Savanna TickseedCoreopsis linifolia
- Pinebarren SedgeCarex turgescens
- Pine LilyLilium catesbyi
- Carphephorus pseudoliatrisCarphephorus pseudoliatris
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Birds 84
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Piping PloverCharadrius melodus
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
- American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
- Black SkimmerRynchops niger
- Brown PelicanPelecanus occidentalis
Plants 35
- Annual Saltmarsh AsterSymphyotrichum subulatum
- Sandpaper VervainVerbena scabra
- Dwarf ArrowheadSagittaria subulata
- Black NeedlerushJuncus roemerianus
- Carolina Sea-lavenderLimonium carolinianum
- Crowned BeggarticksBidens trichosperma
- Southern Water-hempAmaranthus australis
- Lakebank SedgeCarex lacustris
- Shoreline SedgeCarex hyalinolepis
- New England BulrushBolboschoenus novae-angliae
- Crassula aquaticaCrassula aquatica
- Pink RedstemAmmannia latifolia
All of coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated) in Alabama
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Least Bittern
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)