GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosu)

Species Code: BOLE

This is an "at risk" species

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Map with Breeding Bird Atlas records

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This species is uncommon in dense freshwater marshes and extensive wet meadows at low elevations. East of the Cascades, found generally below the Ponderosa Pine zone at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, but Trout Lake and Conboy Lake in the Interior Douglas Fir zone are higher in elevation than most bittern locations. On the west side of the Cascades, they are found at lower elevations in the Western Hemlock zone in suitable wetlands. They are very local breeders in southeastern Washington at Scootenay Reservoir and are reported to be difficult to find outside of the Scootenay area.

Good habitats in the core areas of use included all freshwater and estuarine (but not mud flats) wetlands in the Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Puget Sound Douglas-fir, Woodland/Prairie Mosaic, Cowlitz River and Willamette Valley zones in western Washington. In the east, steppe zones and smaller parts of the Ponderosa Pine and Oak zones (within its range limits) were the core areas of use and the Interior Douglas-fir zone was the peripheral area of use.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester