Bird

American Bittern

Botaurus lentiginosus

A winter visitor to Florida, found in all 67 counties and 11 habitats.

Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 11

Adult American Bittern, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Kathy Richardson, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 483295286. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 11
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Florida 11

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

1 of 11

WinterSouth Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater MarshRegional / 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); Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland; 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

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterCentral Florida Herbaceous Pondshore; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterFlorida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

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.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh; Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Florida Big Bend Salt-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)

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 (36)

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

Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter, only within 500 m of water.
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.
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 Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer.
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore 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.