The Forest Bittern is a forest heron with a black crown and brown-and-buff barring. It forages alone along streams in New Guinea's rainforests.
Its crown is black, and its head, neck, back, and wings have brown-and-buff barring. The underparts are pale, with upper-breast feathers hanging over the belly.
It forages alone along rainforest streams. Recorded foods include crayfish, crabs, aquatic beetles and other insects, small fish, lizards, and snakes.
A reported nest in relatively open forest beside a stream was a substantial structure of sticks and twigs high in a tree.
The long bill is black above and ashy-grey below. The eyes are yellow, and the bare skin between bill and eye and around the eye is sulphur-yellow.
The back and upperwings are dark brown with fine buff lines. The rump and lower back are white with dusky feather tips. The yellow legs have a dusky-brown wash behind.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.