Thursday, July 17, 2014

Eurasian bittern / Rørdrum



 Botaurus stellaris

 

The Eurasian bittern or great bittern  is one of the most peculiar birds in Denmark. The Danish name is Rørdrum.

 It is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, and it is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds AEWA applies.

The Eurasian  bittern is a medium-size heron with a lenght-striped,  goldenbrown pliumage. When it is disturbed it shows its striped underside and stretches the head and neck up into the air. This makes it almost invisible in the reed beds. The bittern is a rare sight, it is extremely well camouflaged, it lives very hidden and is very shy - but in return the male bittern delivers the mystic song in spring  -  in Denmark called PAUKEN - which is so strong that the sound can be heard for miles. 

The Eurasian bittern is spread in Europe and in a broad belt through Asia and North Africa, except in the northerh Scandinavia. It breeds spread in most of Europe, but is most numerous in eastern Europe, while it breeds only sporadically in the British Isles and in southern Europe. 



In Denmark the bittern breeds spread in most of the country, except Bornholm. The bird occurs in large reed beds and marshlands, and it is common at the fjords of West Jutland. The best locality in Denmark for the bittern is the birds sanctuary Vejlerne. Here are about one hundred pauking males. There is a good chance to experience these birds, especially in July, where they are flying around a lot. 

The Danish Eurasian bittern is probably a resident bird as far as the winter climate allows. If the habitats are frozen, the bittern has to seek other habitats, or it might overwinter primarily in western and southern Europe. 

The bittern's food is fish, amphibians and other little animals.  

photo:  habitat of the bittern in Lille Vildmose





Folklore/ Legend
No other bird in Denmark is surrounded by so much mystery as the bittern. Both the hidden ways of living, the owl-like flight and the strange voice, which sounds like the roar of a bull, have contributed to this mystery. People were scared of this mystic bird who had a voice as strong as any mammal, and furthermore it was  prancing around in the night hours - and when people met it in the dark of the night they were convinced it was a ghost.

The voice of the bittern created legends about the farmer's water cows roaring and yearning to get ashore.
A brutal landlord from Limfjorden was hated by everyone, and after his death his spirit was hazarding like a big black bird across the landscape, flying with silent wing beats and crying the hoarse scream of the bittern.

In the 1600s the voice of the bittern was compared to the roar of a bull, which is also seen in the Latin name Botaurus. With its beak stuck under wing or down under water, mud or eath its roar could be heard far away. 

The sound is also compared to deep tones from a far away bell buoy, or a foghorn, as when the wind is howling into a barrel. The voice of the bittern was called the rarest sound in Denmark, a strange hollow voice like the hooting of a distant steamer ,or the sound you made as child when you were blowing into an empty water bottle.  it is called the rarest sound in denmark , a strange hollow voice like the hooting of a distant steamer or like the sound you made as child when you blew in an empty water bottle, but only much more powerful.


The farmers took many omens from the voice, if it was heard early spring it would be a fertile harvest.
If the bittern was pauking in the reed rain and storm would come. If the bittern was pauking for a long time it meant that war would come. 

The claws were  - mounted in gold or silver- used as toothpicks. 


 photocopy: wikipedia




source: Brøndegårdsamlingen, folk og flora 2 ; DOF Danmarks fugle,


photo: grethe bachmann, Lille Vildmose, July 2014.

4 comments:

stardust said...

Nice shots of Eurasian bittern in air! I hadn’t known this bird till now. Thank you for the introduction of this somewhat mysterious but majestic bird.

Anyway, long time, no see! How have you been? Since my mother’s passing away at 93 on June 5, I’ve had a void in my mind, but the void has been filled up warmly especially by the innocence of my little grandchildren. I think I’d be able to visit you more often from now on. Have a nice summer.

Yoko

Thyra said...

Hello Yoko, I'm sorry for your loss. It is always a great sorrow to lose your mother, no matter how old she is at her death. My mother died on her 95th birthday in 2005 and I still miss her very much. It's a luck that you've got grandchildren - and it's a luck for your grandchildren to have a good grandmama!

It's so nice to see you back. I have also been away from my blog for a time, but I hope to be here more often too. I've got some trouble with my back and the ischias-nerve. I have been working too hard in my garden, which I took over in April, it needed some care, I have been removing, digging, planting and cutting, filling big sacks, nursing my new roses etc, etc.......

A nice summer to you too. The weather is fine here, such lovely summer's days with a rainy day in between.

I enjoy your blog with your beautiful photos.

Grethe ´)

Teresa Evangeline said...

What an interesting bird. I can only imagine how it must sound when many call out at the nature preserve. It would be startling! Thank you for introducing me to a new bird.

Thyra said...

Hej Teresa, I think the sound is creepy even in the day hours. I understand why people "in the old days" combined it with ghosts and magic.

Have a nice week-end!
Grethe '.)