Little Bittern - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

There are three subspecies:

• Ixobrychus minutus minutus (Linnaeus, 1766). Europe, Asia, northern Africa; winters in sub-saharan Africa and southern Asia.
• Ixobrychus minutus payesii (Hartlaub, 1858). Sub-saharan Africa, resident.
• Ixobrychus minutus podiceps (Bonaparte, 1855). Madagascar, resident.

The Australian Little Bittern (Ixobrychus dubius) and the extinct New Zealand Little Bittern (Ixobrychus novaezelandiae) were formerly considered subspecies of the Little Bittern.