We had our annual citizen science outing to count the booms of the Australasian bittern – Matuku-hūrepo in the Boggy Pond wetlands at the end of October.
Encouragingly, like last year, we heard plenty of booming! Their distictive“wooom – wooom” filled the night air from just after sunset as the male birds set out to attract a mate or “see off” the opposition. By geographically locating direction and distance from the observer we can give the scientists an accurate estimate of the matuku population. We hope that will vindicate all our extensive predator control efforts in the moana over the past few years!
The bittern’s eerie, booming call sounds like a lament, a tangi ringing across the marshes. These birds are in big trouble. The decline began in the late 19th century. As settlers drained wetlands, they emptied out the bitterns too. The decline has accelerated in the last 40 years. Now there are fewer than 1,000 bitterns in New Zealand, making them ‘nationally critical’—the same threat category as kākāpō.
Matuku are an extremely shy and rarely seen bird. This is due to their secretive behaviour, inconspicuous plumage and the inaccessibility of their wetland habitat. Bittern occasionally show themselves in the open along wetland edges, dykes, drains, flooded paddocks or roadsides, often adopting their infamous ‘freeze’ stance, with the bill pointing skyward, so even when caught out in the open, often being mistaken for an old fencepost or dead scrub.
We really don’t want the matuku to become extinct in our area. If you would like to help, get in touch or contribute to your local predator free efforts.
We would love to hear about any matuku sightings or “booms” that folk have heard. Post it as a comment on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/aorangiwairarapa/ or email info@aorangitrust.org.nz
