Forest bittern
Zonerodius heliosylus (R. P. Lesson & Garnot, 1828)
The forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus) is a species in the family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes. Recorded adults weigh about 802 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
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Quick facts about the forest bittern
- Weight
- 802 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- riverinesrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the forest bittern live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The forest bittern is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the forest bittern?
The forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus) is a bird indigenous to New Guinea. It is the only member of the genus Zonerodius and is also known as the New Guinea tiger heron.
From the Wikipedia article “Forest bittern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forest_bittern&oldid=1372702584), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the forest bittern endangered?
The forest bittern is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the forest bittern classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPelecaniformes
- familyArdeidae
- genusZonerodius
- SpeciesZonerodius heliosylus (R. P. Lesson & Garnot, 1828)
Synonyms Ardea heliosyla, Zenerodius heliosylus
Other names and names in other languages (45)
- Forest tiger heronEnglish
- Forest tiger-heronEnglish
- New Guinea tiger heronEnglish
- New Guinea tiger-heronEnglish
- واق الغابةArabic
- بشون الببر الغاباتArabic
- martinet tigrat de Nova GuineaCatalan
- bukač novoguinejskýCzech
- aderyn bwn y goedwigWelsh
- Ny Guinea-tigerhejreDanish
- BindenreiherGerman
- novgvinea ardeoEsperanto
- Novgvinea tigrardeoEsperanto
- Avetigre papúaSpanish
- Avetigre papúSpanish
- Avetoro de BosqueSpanish
- paapua tiigerhüüpEstonian
- بوتیمار جنگلیPersian
- papuanhaikaraFinnish
- Onoré phaétonFrench
- Crabier phaétonFrench
- novogvinejski gakCroatian
- Bambangan rimbaIndonesian
- Airone tigrato di forestaItalian
- パプアトラフサギJapanese
- miškinis garnysLithuanian
- Miškinis baublysLithuanian
- Nieuw-Guinese TijgerroerdompDutch
- papuatigerhegreNorwegian
- czapla papuaskaPolish
- tygryska papuaskaPolish
- زونیروڈیوس ہیلیوسائلسWestern Panjabi
- garça-papuaPortuguese
- garça-tigre-da-papuaPortuguese
- socó-boi-papúaPortuguese
- Лесная выпьRussian
- Лесная цапляRussian
- čaplička lesnáSlovak
- tigrovanec lesnýSlovak
- Šumski vodeni bikSerbian
- papuahägerSwedish
- papuansk tigerhägerSwedish
- Kaplan BalıkçılıTurkish
- бушля лісоваUkrainian
- 林鳽Chinese
Relatives of the forest bittern
Other species in the same family Ardeidae.
Grey heron
Ardea cinerea
Great egret
Ardea alba
Black-crowned night heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Western cattle egret
Ardea ibis
Eurasian bittern
Botaurus stellaris
Little egret
Egretta garzetta
CompareForest bittern vs Grey heronForest bittern vs Great egretForest bittern vs Black-crowned night heronForest bittern vs Western cattle egret
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the forest bittern?
An adult forest bittern weighs 802 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the forest bittern live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the forest bittern for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the forest bittern endangered?
The forest bittern is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
What kind of animal is the forest bittern?
The forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus) 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.
- 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). - 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). Forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-bittern
“Forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-bittern.
@misc{forest_bittern_2026,
title = {Forest bittern (Zonerodius heliosylus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-bittern},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}