Least Bittern Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
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Florida, April 10, 1996Recorded by Gregory Budney | Macaulay Library
Song
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New Jersey, June 11, 1961Recorded by George B. Reynard | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, June 06, 2002Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, July 03, 1996Recorded by Andrew Kirk | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Florida, May 22, 2012Recorded by Andrew Spencer
Calls
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May 09, 2011Recorded by Benjamin Van Doren
Song (South American vocal group)
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October 24, 1999Recorded by Kristof Zyskowski | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

In spring, males sing a subtle, quiet coo-coo-coo-coo from concealed locations to attract mates and mark territory.

Calls

Least Bitterns make a variety of calls, including a ticking sound made by a receptive female in response to a singing male, a rail-like gak-gak! that apparently serves as a contact call between mates, and other cackles, clucks, hisses, and shrieks—probably used as alarm calls or in threat displays against predators. Flying nocturnal migrants sometimes give a high, clucking gark that recalls Green Heron or American Bittern but is higher in pitch.