Hi all,
This spring and summer Birds Australia is undertaking a national
survey of wetlands looking for both Australasian and Australian
Little Bitterns. This is being done for two reasons. Firstly, because
it appears that the Australasian Bittern population and distribution
are declining. If you look at the BA website you will see atlas maps
showing just how dramatic this decline appears to be. While numbers
of birds from some areas are still high, in others the birds appear
to be missing altogether.
Secondly, very little is known about the Australasian Bittern life
cycle, feeding requirements and seasonal movement and without this
information conservation strategies are difficult to formulate. All
information would be helpful. Do you know a wetland that used to have
Aust Bitterns, but no longer does? Have Aust Bitterns recently
arrived at a wetland in your area? Have irrigation changes in your
area, past and present, affected Bittern numbers? Do you know of Aust
Bitterns breeding in your area?
More information about Aust Bitterns, the survey and a survey kit can
be downloaded from the Birds Australia website at
<http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-projects/bittern-survey.html>http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/our-projects/bittern-survey.html
or you can email the survey team at
<>
if you want a hard copy of the survey kit sent out or have any information.
Surprisingly, observers report Australian Little Bitterns to blogs
and the BA Atlas more often than Australasian Bitterns. While the
Australasian Bittern is the main target of the survey, BA would like
to get a better understanding of the Australian Little Bittern as
well. It appears that they may be taking advantage of the small
suburban wetlands that are being placed in new developments as well
as urban storm water retarding basins. It would also be interesting
to know if any of them are resident in Australia all year round, as
they are believed to migrate to New Guinea from March to about
October, but this may not be the case for all birds, especially those
in northern WA, NT and FNQ.
Thanks
Andrew Silcocks
James O'Connor
Research Manager
Birds Australia
Suite 2-05
60 Leicester St
Carlton 3053
email:
Ph (03) 9347 0757
Fax (03) 9347 9323
Toll free: 1300 730 075
Website address: http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au
Atlas website: http://www.birdata.com.au
ABN: 87 004 076 475
Australian Partner of BirdLife International. Are you a member of Birds
Australia? If not, why not join us?
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