Editing Bittern (section)

{{short description|Subfamily of birds}}
{{Other uses}}
 
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Bitterns
| image = American Bittern Seney NWR 3.jpg
| image_caption = [[American bittern]]
| taxon = Botaurinae
| authority = [[Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach|Reichenbach]], 1850
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = *''[[Botaurus]]'' <small>[[James Francis Stephens|Stephens]], 1819</small>
*''[[Zebrilus]]'' <small>Bonaparte, 1855</small>
}}

'''Bitterns''' are birds belonging to the subfamily '''Botaurinae''' of the heron family [[Ardeidae]]. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' and various iterations of ''raredumla'' in [[Old English language|Old English]]; the word "bittern" came to English from [[Old French language|Old French]] ''butor'', itself from Gallo-Roman ''butitaurus'', a compound of [[Latin]] ''būtiō'' (buzzard) and ''taurus'' (bull).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | editor = Joseph P. Pickett | encyclopedia = The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language | title = Bittern | url = http://www.bartleby.com/61/77/B0287700.html | access-date = 2006-07-04 | edition = 4th | year = 2000 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | location = Boston | display-editors = etal | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050116011921/http://www.bartleby.com/61/77/B0287700.html | archive-date = 2005-01-16 }}</ref>

Bitterns usually frequent [[reed bed]]s and similar marshy areas and feed on [[amphibian]]s, [[reptile]]s, [[insect]]s, and [[fish]].

Bitterns, like herons, egrets, and pelicans, fly with their necks retracted, unlike the [[Crane (bird)|crane]]s, [[stork]]s, [[ibis]]es and [[spoonbill]]s, and [[geese]] which fly with necks extended and outstretched. The genus ''Ixobrychus'' was recently found to be paraphyletic with the ''Botaurus'' genus, and ''Ixobrychus'' was then merged into ''Botaurus''.