Love Bittern Project seeks listeners for nationwide bittern count
More than 1,000 people have registered to listen for male matuku-hūrepo at New Zealand wetlands as the conservation group seeks a clearer population estimate.
The Love Bittern Project is asking people across New Zealand to record the calls of endangered matuku-hūrepo during its third nationwide muster as the birds’ mating season begins, RNZ reported on 22 October. The group hopes listening at more wetlands will help it estimate how many Australasian bitterns remain.
Wendy Ambury of the project told RNZ that more than 1,000 people had registered. Volunteers are asked to sign up, spend 60 minutes listening at a wetland just after sunset and record the male bird’s distinctive booming call. The invitation comes as Labour weekend coincides with the start of the mating season, when those calls are more likely to be heard.
How the matuku-hūrepo muster counts birds
Ambury said the recordings would help establish how many male bitterns there are, providing a basis for a national population estimate. More volunteers mean the project can cover more sites and improve that estimate, she said. The project says its nationally coordinated counts are designed to reduce double counting because bitterns can move between wetlands and regions.
The Love Bittern Project describes its method as active listening or triangulation: listeners use the booming calls to detect males and produce a population index. Its schedule lists an October monitoring window from 23 October to 1 November, with locally chosen three-day periods and postponement dates within that window. RNZ described the appeal to listeners over the long weekend; individual monitoring dates depend on local arrangements.
Why more wetland listeners matter
Ambury estimated that fewer than 1,000 matuku-hūrepo remain in the wild. The project gives a range of 600 to 1,000 and says the population is unknown. Those figures are estimates rather than results from this year’s muster, which is seeking a clearer count.
The birds can be hard to notice: Ambury told RNZ they are often heard or seen only in ones and twos, and people may not realise they live nearby. She said volunteers can listen at wetlands with deep, permanent water and access to fish and eels. Identifying and recording the birds is the first step toward keeping their calls part of New Zealand’s wetlands for future generations, she said.
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Sources and context
- People urged to record calls of endangered wetland birdRNZ
- The Great Matuku-hūrepo Muster!Love Bittern Project
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.