Resources to help you learn more about Bittern and how you can help.
Creating Bittern detectives and wetland ambassadors through stories, activities, games, music and science enquiry to help influence our future thinkers.
Program outline example and examples of resources for schools and educators of 4 to 12 year olds can be found here Let’s learn about Bittern!
School Packs are just being updated, here’s the first one:
Let’s learn about Bittern! for beginners aged 4,5 and 6
(please email us for access to the linked resources in the google drive)
Secondary School Program
We are working on aligning topics with NCEA AS90810 -Education for Sustainability 2.1
This achievement standard involves undertaking a personal action, with reflection, that contributes to a sustainable future.
Our purpose is to encourage enquiry into wetlands and species led conservation of Australasian Bittern, and to serve up links to resources to help drill down on topics to investigate with real world (citizen science) monitoring/research (action, measures) eg
- Climate change and the impacts on biodiversity
- Wetland enquiry and action
- Land use impacts on waterways
- Our use of water, impacts on water quality
- Healthy farms, healthy fish… healthy hūrepo!
If you would like to be part of a think-tank-team on this contact us!
- Bittern for beginners (link to video coming soon)
- How to identify and record a bittern
- Watch how a Bittern booms – take a look at Mr UK as a reference.
- Record a bittern here or in eBird or iNaturalist.
- How to assess and restore freshwater habitats, including wetlands, drains/waterways and ponds for bittern to thrive.
Darwin200 Video Series – Matuku Hūrepo: A Booming Future
A Booming Future is a powerful 3-episode documentary looking into the world of the Australasian bittern—one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most elusive and endangered birds through the eyes of a Darwin200 Leader Nardi de la Torre (Ecuador).
Department of Conservation -publications
2024 Conservation management of the crytically endangered Matuku-hūrepo / Australasian Bittern
Monitoring bittern to get a baseline population estimate and ongoing population trends will help you, identify areas for management and measure your success of any management ‘treatments’ i.e protection or habitat improvements you make.
Types of monitoring-
- Passive Monitoring -using acoustic recorders to detect males booming (confirms absence/presence of male bittern)
- Active listening (or triangulation) to detect males booming. This method is used in The Great Matuku-hūrepo Muster. (gives you a population index of individual males, which is used to estimate population. Identifies possible breeding territories)
- Detecting female behaviour and influencing nest success. (as an indication of nest success, to influence species recruitment and identify individuals using game or trail cameras)
- Monitoring nests and individuals using drone cameras and or thermal drones. (nest success, recruitment)
Resources
- How a bittern booms, using Mr Uk as a reference
- Bittern Booming – Sound files (15min wetland recording or edited version) .
- Boom Monitoring-how to analyse bittern sound files
LOVE BITTERN PROJECT 