Help bring bittern back from the brink! Get involved in the Matuku Muster – a nationwide synchronised count of male Australasian bittern booming.
Check out the ‘boom’ call here (Credit: NZ Birds online, Nick Ellen):
Matuku-hūrepo / Australasian Bittern are a highly mobile species capable of traveling from region to region – which means that you could count one in your wetland one day and the same bittern could be counted again in another place the next day. The population of matuku here in Aotearoa is unknown – somewhere between 250-1000 birds are left we think… and they are on the brink of extinction.
Find out more about Northland bittern and the work being done to save them here.
You can play an important role in helping to count bittern during their breeding season when the males can be heard booming. To join in you will need to be able to count the males booming for 1-3 days each month on the weekend closest to the full moon in Sept/Oct or Oct/Nov, for 60 minutes after your local sunset.
The dates for this years Muster are (1-3 consecutive days, for 1-3 months) between:
- September -Friday 18th to Sunday 27th (full moon 27th)
- October -Friday 23rd to Sunday 1st Nov (full Moon 26th)
- November -Friday 20th to Sunday 29th (full moon 25th)
It is recommended to target the first weekend and use the following week, or weekend as your postponement dates.
Groups are encouraged to carry out 3 nights of monitoring if possible. Sign up and register your group here
For more info and to get involved contact the Love Bittern Project – Wendy 022 526 1972 or email lovebittern@gmail.com
