If you go down to your local wetland today, you could be in for a big surprise. If the wetland has dense beds of reeds and rushes, you may be lucky enough to see an Australasian Bittern. These birds are surprisingly difficult to see, as they are well camouflaged among reeds, and when alarmed, they stand still with their neck stretched upwards and bill pointing skywards. This makes them blend remarkably well into the surrounding vegetation, and partly explains why they are seldom recorded.
The number of records of Australasian Bitterns that have been submitted to Birds Australia's Atlas of Australian Birds in recent years has declined greatly. Records in the 1970s showed that Bitterns were widespread throughout much of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, but this is no longer the case. Recent records are less widespread and more sparsely scattered, probably reflecting the severity of the prevailing drought, and the changing use of the water in Australian wetlands.
If that seems bad, the situation is much worse in Western Australia. The species was never common there, but it was recorded at widespread sites from wetlands near Perth and as far east as Cape Arid in the 1970s; in recent years, the species has barely been recorded there at all, with just a handful of Atlas records since 1998.
The accompanying map shows the distribution of the Australasian Bittern, highlighting the lack of recent records in Western Australia.
If you want to discover more information about this species or any other birds that occur in Australia, just take a little time to explore the Birdata website, or visit the Birds Australia website at www.birdsaustralia.com.au . You never know what you might find.
