Bird
American Bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
A winter visitor to Mississippi, found in all 82 counties and 9 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 9

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 82 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 Mississippi 9
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
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.
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.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
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.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (47)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (22)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade 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.
Northeast (4)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Heathland and Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
Land cover and other classes (21)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland 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.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
- 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.
- Recently Logged Areas Winter, only within 500 m of water.
- South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
Seasons in Mississippi
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 63 of 82 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 30 of 82 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Mississippi, 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.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 129
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
Plants 1094
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Carolina HorsenettleSolanum carolinense var. carolinense
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 127
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Sooty TernOnychoprion fuscatus
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Plants 118
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Ipomoea cordatotriloba var. cordatotrilobaIpomoea cordatotriloba var. cordatotriloba
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Agalinis harperiAgalinis harperi
- Panicum amarum var. amarumPanicum amarum var. amarum
- Rough American Barnyard GrassEchinochloa muricata var. muricata
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Atriplex cristataAtriplex cristata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Pinewoods FingergrassEustachys petraea
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 158
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Cackling GooseBranta hutchinsii
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
Plants 26
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Intermediate Spike RushEleocharis intermedia
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Cyperus ochraceusCyperus ochraceus
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for American 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)




















































