Great Bittern

Botaurus stellaris

30,985Records since 2000

MayPeak month

77Counties with records

Least ConcernIUCN Red List

When it is recorded

Jan2,068

Feb1,686

Mar2,687

Apr5,397

May6,869

Jun3,375

Jul1,631

Aug1,230

Sep906

Oct1,229

Nov1,069

Dec1,113

GBIF records by month, 2000–2025 (all years combined).

#	County	Nation	Records
1	Suffolk	England	6,402
2	Cambridgeshire	England	3,897
3	Somerset	England	3,054
4	Norfolk	England	2,587
5	Kent	England	1,900
6	Leeds	England	1,598
7	Oxfordshire	England	919
8	Doncaster	England	859
9	East Riding of Yorkshire	England	529
10	Lincolnshire	England	445
11	Rotherham	England	436
12	North Lincolnshire	England	430
13	Gloucestershire	England	299
14	Essex	England	287
15	Nottinghamshire	England	283

30,373 England70 Scotland536 Wales

Records per county (GADM level 2) and per nation; one record can count towards several areas. 77 counties in all.

Records since 2000: 30,985
Peak month: May
Counties with records: 77
IUCN Red List: Least Concern
Scientific name: Botaurus stellaris
Group: Birds
NBN Atlas records since 2000: 6,784
Most recorded in: Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Somerset, Norfolk, Kent, Leeds, Oxfordshire, Doncaster, East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Rotherham, North Lincolnshire +11
Conservation designations: Birds Directive, Bern Convention, Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Wildlife (NI) Order 1985, Birds of Conservation Concern, Biodiversity List – Northern Ireland, Convention on Migratory Species, GB Red List (2001 IUCN criteria), Biodiversity List – England, Biodiversity List – Wales, UK BAP priority species, Scottish Biodiversity List
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Botaurus
Name with authority: Botaurus stellaris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Described: 1758
Contributing datasets: 21