Bitterns are a classification of wading birds in the heron family Ardeidae. Species named as bitterns tend to be the shorter necked, often more secretive members of this family. Called hæferblæte in Old English, the word bittern came to English from Old French butor, itself from Gallo-roman butitaurus, a portmanteau of Latin būtiō and taurus. Bitterns form a monophyletic subfamily in the heron family, the Botaurinae.

Bitterns usually frequent reedbeds and similar marshy areas, and feed on amphibians, reptiles, insects, and fish.

Unlike the similar storks, ibises and spoonbills, herons and bitterns fly with their necks retracted, not outstretched.

The genus Ixobrychus contains mainly small species:

• Little Bittern, Ixobrychus minutus
• New Zealand Little Bittern, Ixobrychus novaezelandiae (extinct)
• Cinnamon Bittern, Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
• Stripe-backed Bittern, Ixobrychus involucris
• Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis
• Yellow Bittern, Ixobrychus sinensis
• Schrenck's Bittern, Ixobrychus eurhythmus
• Dwarf Bittern, Ixobrychus sturmii
• Black Bittern, Ixobrychus flavicollis

The genus Botaurus is the larger bitterns:

• American Bittern, Botaurus lentiginosa.
• Great Bittern or Eurasian Bittern, Botaurus stellaris
• South American Bittern, Botaurus pinnatus
• Australasian Bittern, Botaurus poiciloptilus
• Botaurus hibbardi (fossil)

The genus Zebrilus includes only one species:

• Zigzag Heron (or properly Zigzag Bittern), Zebrilus undulatus

Notes