New Zealand bittern

New Zealand bittern
New Zealand bittern (adult and juvenile males)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Botaurus
Species:
†B. novaezelandiae
Binomial name
†Botaurus novaezelandiae
(Purdie, 1871)
Synonyms
  • Ardea pusilla Vieill, 1817
  • Ardetta punctata Gray, 1844
  • Ardetta pusilla Gould, 1848
  • Ardeola pusilla Bonap., 1855
  • Ardeola novaezelandiae A. C. Purdie, 1871
  • Ardetta maculata Buller, 1873
  • Ixobrychus minutus novaezelandiae Mathews & Iredale, 1913
  • Dupetor flavicollis P. L. Horn, 1980

The New Zealand bittern (Botaurus novaezelandiae) is an extinct and enigmatic species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It was endemic to New Zealand and was last recorded alive in the 1890s.[2]

Common names for this species include New Zealand little bittern, spotted heron, and kaoriki (Māori).[3] The scientific species name also has numerous junior synonyms.[3] This species was formerly placed in the genus Ixobrychus.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Ixobrychus novaezelandiae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22697307A93607264. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697307A93607264.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Tennyson, A. & Martinson, P. (2006). Extinct birds of New Zealand. Wellington: Te Papa Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0-909010-21-8.
  3. ^ a b Walter Lawry Buller (1888). A history of the birds of New Zealand. pp. 136–138.