have relatively little interaction because of differences in foraging habits, preferred prey, and timing of breeding cycles. The least bittern arrives on its breeding grounds about a month after the American bittern and leaves one or two months earlier. John James Audubon noted that a young captive least bittern was able to walk with ease between two books standing apart. When dead, the bird's body measured across, indicating that it could compress its breadth to an extraordinary degree. Breeding These birds nest in large marshes with dense vegetation from southern Canada to northern Argentina. The nest is a well-concealed platform built from cattails and other marsh vegetation. The female lays four or five eggs, in extreme cases from two to seven. The eggs are pale blue or green. Both parents feed the young by regurgitating food. A second brood is often produced in a season. These birds migrate from the northern parts of their range in winter for the southernmost coasts of the United States and areas further south, travelling at night. Food and feeding They mainly eat fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects, which they capture with quick jabs of their bill while climbing through marsh plants. Status The numbers of these birds have declined in some areas due to loss of habitat. They are still fairly common but are more often heard than seen. As the species has a large range and a large total population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "Least Concern". The least bittern is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. A Least Bittern was saved in Bushwick Brooklyn on October 8th by Bennington Show Producer Chris Stanley. He named the bird Bushy and after taking it to a bird rescue he will take it into his home. References External links Least bittern images by Monte M. Taylor at tsuru-bird.net, © 2009 Least Bittern at Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr Least Bittern Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology Cory's least bittern and Cory's least bittern at Pantanal, YouTube videos Cory's least bittern in Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, photographs of museum specimens Least Bittern Least Bittern Birds of the Americas Birds of the United States Birds of Canada Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Puerto Rico Birds of Trinidad and Tobago Birds of South America Birds of North America Least