Dwarf bittern
Botaurus sturmii (Wagler, 1827)
Status not recordedbirds
The dwarf bittern (Botaurus sturmii) is a species in the family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes. Recorded adults weigh 140 g to 142 g.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the dwarf bittern
- Weight
- 140 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predator
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetland
- Egg incubation
- 14.5 days
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.38
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrial
- Migration
- Sedentary
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the dwarf bittern live?
Not recorded
Is the dwarf bittern endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the dwarf bittern classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPelecaniformes
- familyArdeidae
- genusBotaurus
- SpeciesBotaurus sturmii (Wagler, 1827)
Synonyms Ardea gutturalis, Ardea sturmii, Ardeiralla sturmii, Ardeirallus sturmii, Ardeirallus sturmii sturmii, Ardetta sturmii, Cancrophagus gutturalis, Egretta plumbea, Ixobrychus sturmii
Other names and names in other languages (49)
- DWBIEnglish
- DwergrietreierAfrikaans
- واق قزمArabic
- Африкански малък воден бикBulgarian
- Bongorz SturmBreton
- martinet menut de SturmCatalan
- bukáček zakrslýCzech
- Coraderyn bwnWelsh
- PygmæhejreDanish
- SchieferdommelGerman
- Nana botaŭroEsperanto
- Avetorillo plomizoSpanish
- ojahüüpEstonian
- بوتیمار کوتولهPersian
- sinipikkuhaikaraFinnish
- Butor de SturmFrench
- אנפית ננסיתHebrew
- afrička čapljicaCroatian
- szerecsentörpegémHungarian
- HelluþvariIcelandic
- Tarabusino nanoItalian
- クロヨシゴイJapanese
- afrikinis baublysLithuanian
- pundurdumpisLatvian
- Afrikaanse WoudaapDutch
- SkiferrøyrdrumNorwegian Nynorsk
- skiferrørdrumNorwegian
- bączek ciemnyPolish
- لکسوبرائیچس سٹرمیWestern Panjabi
- garçote-anãoPortuguese
- Карликовый волчокRussian
- AlituhcaháigirNorthern Sami
- bučiačik trpasličíSlovak
- afriška čapljicaSlovenian
- Siva čapljicaSerbian
- pygmérördromSwedish
- Kurşuni Küçük BalabanTurkish
- бугайчик африканськийUkrainian
- 蓝苇鳽Chinese
- bukáček trpasličíCzech
- GraurückendommelGerman
- afrika botaŭroEsperanto
- Blongios de SturmFrench
- Tarabusino nano africanoItalian
- Afrikinis nykštukinis baublysLithuanian
- Garçote-pretoPortuguese
- garçote-preto-africanoPortuguese
- Сероспинный волчокRussian
- 藍葦鳽Chinese
Relatives of the dwarf bittern
Other species in the same genus Botaurus.

Eurasian bittern
Botaurus stellaris

Little bittern
Botaurus minutus
American bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
Matuku
Botaurus poiciloptilus
Pinnated bittern
Botaurus pinnatus
Stripe-backed bittern
Botaurus involucris
CompareDwarf bittern vs Eurasian bitternDwarf bittern vs Little bitternDwarf bittern vs American bitternDwarf bittern vs Matuku
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the dwarf bittern?
An adult dwarf bittern weighs 140 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the dwarf bittern?
The dwarf bittern (Botaurus sturmii) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Dwarf bittern (Botaurus sturmii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dwarf-bittern
“Dwarf bittern (Botaurus sturmii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dwarf-bittern.
@misc{dwarf_bittern_2026,
title = {Dwarf bittern (Botaurus sturmii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dwarf-bittern},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}