Stripe-backed Bittern

The stripe-backed bittern (Botaurus involucris) is a South American bird species belonging to the family Ardeidae. It was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus. Commonly found near freshwater swamps, marshes, lake shores and streams, stripe-backed bitterns are distributed in two disjunct populations in the north and south of the continent, spanning both sides of the Andes. Although increasingly researched worldwide, many details of its life history life are lacking, especially compared to other species in its sister clade like the least bittern (Botaurus exilis).