Since I’ve visited the Penjajawoc Marsh off Stillwater Avenue in Bangor, I’ve made myself familiar with what types of birds may be found there. It is fascinating to discover the interconnectedness of each species with its surroundings as a whole.

I’ve found that there are no clear separations between habitat types; birds don’t just exist in one without the other. Many birds use different types of habitat for a variety of needs.

Take, for instance, the American bittern. This mysterious bird is difficult to spot because of its camouflaging technique. It tends mostly to frequent tall reeds or grassy sloughs, and if it feels itself threatened, it freezes with its head and beak pointing straight up, blending in perfectly with its surroundings. It basically “pretends” to be a reed. I have seen some funny photographs of young bitterns perched on a branch all in a row, “pretending” to be twigs after being discovered by the photographer.

Because of this behavior, the bittern is most often heard rather than seen. It has a most unbirdlike sound, described by some as sounding like an old-fashioned hand pump. If you are ever outside on a cool spring evening near a marsh or pond, you may hear its distinctive “gunk-a-lunk” call. I’ve always considered this to be an integral element of the season.

Unfortunately, the bittern is listed as a species of special concern in Maine. It is affected by increased predation brought about by development. As natural areas are fragmented and hemmed in by housing projects or malls, they attract species like raccoons and crows – opportunists attracted by human refuse, which then patrol the more accessible margins of undeveloped areas.

Bitterns have also been declining in the state because of direct habitat loss. Even though they most often frequent marshes, they also utilize grassy meadows for foraging. These upland fields harbor what are commonly known as “meadow frogs,” a favorite meal for a bittern, as well as other amphibians, insects, and small mammals.

These are the threats faced by the birds of the Penjajawoc Marsh. Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has found only three American bitterns in the marsh this summer. Other species are low in number as well, with one species, the sedge wren, represented by only one pair in the marsh. This is significant, considering that only six of these birds are seen in Maine each year.

We need to conserve not only the marsh itself, but also the area surrounding it, so that its denizens may utilize all the habitat they need, as well as have a protective boundary between themselves and development.

Chris Corio’s column on birds is published each Saturday. Corio, a volunteer at Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden, can be reached at fieldspond@juno.com