Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)

American Bittern [lateral view]. Photograph Credit: Michael E. Hodges; Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee; 3 May 2009.

Abundance: Very Uncommon; at least 26 records in 13 Regional counties, 5 in Kentucky and 8 in Tennessee, all but one involving a single individual [where information on number is known, as is not the case regarding the confirmed historical breeding record in the Region, during which several adults must have been present]) (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population migrating through or breeding in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status:  Transient during spring (11 records) and fall/early winter (10 records); a small Summer Resident population (3 records) also present, at least in some years; designated as a historical breeding species by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 4 (15 April 2017; Green River WMA, Adair County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton photographs and eBird submission [see below]).

Information on Records: 

26 May 1935 (several adults; 2 nests, each with small young) near Morrison, Warren County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier, H. O. Todd, John Calhoun; Ganier 1935b; Robinson 1990 [attributes the record to an incorrect county]).

9 April 1969 (1) Warren County, Tennessee (Mary C. Wood; Parmer 1969b).

17 October 1976 (1) Hickory Valley [M. D. Williams notes], White County, Tennessee (Morris D. Williams; Williams 1977).

16 May 1982 (1) Green River Wildlife Management Area, Adair County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.).

29 April 1987 (1) northeast McCreary County, Kentucky (B. Lemon Palmer-Ball, Jr.; Stamm 1987c).

15 October 1989 (1) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman photo; Stedman 1993), probably seen a few days earlier (Michael A. Sanders).

9 December 1998 (1) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Ginger K. Ensor, Stephen J. Stedman; Fekel 1999b; Stedman 1999b).

11 April 1999 (1) near Meadow Creek 8 km east of Monterey, Putnam County, Tennessee (Richard W. Simmers; Fekel 1999c).

20 April 2000 (1) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Busroe 2000c).

1 April 2003 (1) Smithville, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Carol D. Williams photo).

5 May 2004 (1) Beech Grove Ridge, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004c).

1–20 July 2004 (1) Heritage Marsh, White County, Tennessee  (Stephen J. Stedman, Douglas A. Downs et al.).

19 April 2005 (1) Heritage Marsh, White County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Douglas A. Downs).

15 April 2006 (1) Heritage Marsh, White County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Douglas A. Downs; Casteel 2006c).

12 October 2006 (1) near Mark, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Connie S. Neeley, Roseanna M. Denton, C. Gay Hodges).

15 October 2006 (1—possibly injured) Flynn Creek Rd., Jackson County, Tennessee (Michael J. Hawkins; Casteel 2007a).

18 November 2006 (1) Rt. 62, western Fentress County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Casteel 2007a).

8 October 2007 (1) Dry Creek Unit, Barren River Wildlife Management Area, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo).

Mid- to late October 2007 (1—dried carcass found on fence 2 November 2007) Fred Tollet Rd., Cumberland County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand photo [7 November 2007]); disarticulation of the carcass was fairly rapid (Edmund K. LeGrand photo [26 June 2008]), indicating that the bittern was probably ensnared on the fence not long before the carcass was originally found.

29 March 2008 (1) Duck Pond, Duck Pond Rd., White County, Tennessee (Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman).

3 May 2009 (1) Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee (Michael E. Hodge photo [above]).

22 October 2011 (1) Cummins Mill Rd., Jackson County, Tennessee (Janice Montgomery).

11 June 2013 (1) Metcalfe County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton), a Metcalfe County Foray record.

16 August 2013 (1) Mason Grissom Rd., Warren County, Tennessee (Susan N. McWhirter).

15 April 2017 (4) Green River WMA, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photographs; eBird #—S35986651).

28 April 2018 (1) Lake Breckenridge,Cumberland County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman photo), a Spring Bird Count record.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 29 March 2008 (White County, Tennessee; Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman).

    Late Fall: 9 December 1998 (Putnam County, Tennessee; Ginger K. Ensor, Stephen J. Stedman; Fekel 1999b).

    Note: Most individuals are Transients, but since there once was, and possibly still is, a small breeding population in the Region, at least in some years, the extreme dates are given in the same manner as for Summer Residents. Most late spring transients pass through by 15 May; most early fall transients do not arrive until 10 October.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Breeding: Confirmed (Historical).  Ganier, Todd, and Calhoun found 2 nests, each with small young, in a small (0.8 hectare), "long-established" marsh near Morrison, Warren County, Tennessee (Ganier 1935b: 24); a brief search in the vicinity of Morrison 12 August 2004 (Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden) revealed no marsh in the area, but, if still extant, it could have been overlooked.  The adult found in the Heritage Marsh, White County, Tennessee, during July 2004 always flushed from a considerable distance (20–30 m); no nest could be located near any of the sites from which it flushed, but the marsh appeared to provide suitable breeding habitat for this bittern during years with sufficient rainfall to maintain water in the marsh at a high level; 2004 was such a year, but no year since has witnessed sufficient rainfall to maintain high water in the marsh during the entire breeding season.

Habitat: During migration usually present near water, often where marshy habitat is present, but sometimes located away from classic habitat, as, for example, was the DeKalb County, Tennessee, bittern, which was found in and near a weedy ditch within the city limits of Smithville.

Remarks: A record without a certain location, even as to county, was obtained during a meeting of the Tennessee Ornithological Society in Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee, on one of the dates (11–12 May 1968) of that meeting.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited