Guide to Saving The Endangered Australasian Bittern
Celebrated for its shadowy existence and a deep booming call, the Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus) has unfortunately become one of the world’s most endangered waterbirds.
However a new guide has been released by Riverina Local Land Services to help farmers and land managers better understand how they can support this iconic species.
By managing the water and vegetation in key bittern wetlands, we can better accommodate them and help increase the Riverina’s population, ensuring bitterns have suitable habitat year-round.
The guide shines a light on this cryptic species, outlining its habitat needs, diet, breeding cycles, movements and how farmers can manage to support these requirements.
You can request a copy by emailing Local Land Services Senior Land Services Officer, Anna Wilson (anna.wilson@lls.nsw.gov.au) with your mailing address.
It forms part of the Boosting the Bunyip Bird Yield project, which is supported by Riverina Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government. Key partners in the project include Murray Wildlife; the NSW Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment, Environment and Science Group and Crown Lands; Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia; Rice Extension; SunRice; NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service; and the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.
The content also draws on prior work through the Bitterns in Rice Project and from Matt Herring’s PhD research at Charles Darwin University with Professors Kerstin Zander and Stephen Garnett.
This project is supported by Riverina Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government.