Earlier this month Max and I found this angry little bird waiting for us in the driveway when we came back home from school. It didn’t seem to be injured, just juvenile and not really able to fly very well. It was a really hot day, so we put him in the shade of the porch and very carefully gave him a bowl of water (his beak looked very sharp and he was pecking at everything). I kept a lookout for his mum out toward the pond in front of our house, but she never appeared.
I went inside to work on the computer, and when I checked on the bird a couple hours later, he was gone.
Dude, that is a bittern.
I worked with one once — and I can tell you from experience, they instinctively go for the eyes. I wouldn’t work around one without full-on safety goggles, and they stab/bite, hard!
On a cool note, they like to eat frogs and fish, and make a really cool deep croaky sound during mating season.
Yes, I agree, it’s an eye-stabbing bittern, great bird, angry-looking, intense glowing eyes and one I’ve worked with too. Love their snake-like neck and territorial, ” get the ___ away from me attitude.”
Thanks for saving it and allowing it to eat more froggies and fish!