Bird

Least Bittern

Ixobrychus exilis

Lives in Florida all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 12 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 12

Male Least Bittern, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Matt Felperin, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0. iNaturalist photo 133777840. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 12
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Florida 12

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

1 of 12

SummerWinterAtlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandGeorge Catlin, White Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola (1834-35): high white dunes with scattered clumps of dune plants above the Gulf. Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, FloridaWhite Sand Bluffs, on Santa Rosa Island, Near Pensacola, George Catlin (1796-1872), 1834-1835. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterMartin Johnson Heade, On the San Sebastian River (c. 1883-90): a tidal river winding through flat marsh under storm clouds at sunset. San Sebastian River, St. Augustine, FloridaOn the San Sebastian River, Floridalabel QS:Len,"On the San Sebastian River, Florida", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1883-1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier; South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh; Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh; South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator HoleMartin Johnson Heade, The Great Florida Marsh (1886): open marsh and lily-dotted water beneath live oaks and cabbage palms. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, The Great Florida Marsh, 1886; North Carolina Museum of Art)*The Great Florida Marsh*, Martin Johnson Heade, 1886. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreMartin Johnson Heade, Florida Sunrise: still water and a palm-fringed shore glowing at dawn. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Florida (Heade, Florida Sunrise, c. 1890-1900)*Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise"*, Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1890-1900. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)Thomas Moran, Fort George Island (1878): a tidal shore of wet sand and shallow water at the river mouth, with cabbage palms and a beached ship. Fort George Island, Florida (Thomas Moran, 1878; Smithsonian American Art Museum)*Fort George Island, Florida*, Thomas Moran, 1878. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

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

Mangrove swamps

Tidal forests and thickets of red, black and white mangrove along sheltered tropical and subtropical shores.

SummerWinter

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

SummerWinterAtlantic 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

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterCentral Florida Herbaceous Seep

Other habitats in its models (30)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida. Those recorded in Florida first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (3)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Summer and winter.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain 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 (11)

Acadian Salt Marsh and Estuary Systems Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland 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.

All habitats

Seasons in Florida

Year-round: nests here, in 30 of 67 counties.
Summer: nests here, in 41 of 67 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Florida, 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.