You’ll need sharp eyes to catch sight of an American Bittern.  This streaky, brown and buff heron can materialize among the reeds, and disappear as quickly, especially when striking a concealment pose with neck stretched and bill pointed skyward.  You may hear a Bittern before you see one with their unmistakable, weird, pump-er-lunk call.   They have nicknames such as stake-driver, thunder-pumper, water-belcher and mire-drum due to their call.   Their yellow eyes can focus downward, giving the bird’s face a comically startled, cross-eyed appearance.  The eyes turn orange during breeding season. 

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American Bitterns breed mainly in freshwater marshes with tall vegetation.  The female gathers materials, builds the nest, incubates eggs, broods and feeds chicks with no apparent assistance from the male.  She will lay 2-7 eggs, with an incubation period of 24-28 days, and a nestling period of 7-14 days.  At hatching the chicks are helpless, covered with yellow-green down, a pinkish-tan, black-tipped bill and olive eyes.

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American Bitterns are solitary foragers, standing motionless or walking slowly with outspread toes in search of food.  They hunt mainly at dawn and dusk.  They eat insects, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals.  They stand stock-still with bill held horizontal, gradually aiming the bill downward until, with a sudden darting motion, the bittern seizes the brey in its bill, bites or shakes it to death and swallows it headfirst.

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American Bitterns are fairly common.  Their main enemy is humans and linked to that of its frequently degraded or developed habitat.  Other concerns are exposure to pesticides and pollutants and marshland invasion by exotic plant species.  The oldest recorded Bittern was over 8 years, 4 months.