Dwarf Bittern

Graurückendommel ( Ixobrychus sturmii )

The Graurückendommel or Schieferdommel ( Ixobrychus sturmii ) is an African relative of the Little Bittern of the heron family.

Features

With a body length of 27 to 30 cm, it is among the smallest herons. Their plumage is oberseits uniformly slate gray. The underside is white-gray striped. Otherwise it resembles the European bittern. Beak and legs are like this yellow color.

Dissemination

The Graurückendommel is native to many parts of Africa. It breeds in almost all African countries south of the Sahara from Mauritania and Ethiopia to South Africa and is missing only in deserts and semi-deserts. The habitat is rivers and lakes with tree-lined shores, marshes or mangroves.

Way of life

Main food of Graurückendommel are water beetles and grasshoppers. More rarely it eats small frogs, fish, snails and crustaceans. It breeds in trees and shrubs. The nest is built of dry grasses at a height of 50 cm to 4 m above the water level. Three to four eggs are incubated at about fifteen days.