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Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called hæferblæte and various iterations of raredumla in Old English; the word "bittern" came to English from Old French butor, itself from Gallo-Roman butitaurus, a compound of Latin būtiō (buzzard) and taurus (bull).
Bitterns usually frequent and similar marshy areas and feed on , , , and fish.
Bitterns, like herons, egrets, and pelicans, fly with their necks retracted, unlike the cranes, , and , and geese which fly with necks extended and outstretched. The genus Ixobrychus was recently found to be paraphyletic with the Botaurus genus, and Ixobrychus was then merged into Botaurus.
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