The Black Bittern is a dark bittern with a yellow patch on the neck. It roosts in tree-lined wetlands and mangroves, feeding on fish and amphibians.
Its body is sooty black to dark brown, with a yellow patch on the side of the neck extending from throat to wing.
The Black Bittern is associated with wetlands in India and is classified as resident and locally moving. The 2025 factsheet estimates the India range at 446,348 square kilometres (95% confidence interval 445,732–446,964).
The India-wide long-term trend estimate is a 17.82% decrease (95% interval −37.66% to +10.34%), and the latest annual estimate is a 1.66% decrease (−3.46% to +0.15%). West Bengal’s estimated range is 52,718 square kilometres (95% confidence interval 52,523–52,913). Both intervals extend from a decrease into an increase, with the annual interval reaching a smaller increase.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2025 India factsheet estimates a 1.66% annual decrease for the Black Bittern and identifies wetlands as its habitat specialization.