Department study shows bittern relies on wetlands to feed and breed in

“Bittern are secretive birds that use a freeze pose to hide among wetland vegetation and are expert at evading people.  The GPS tracking has given new insights into their behaviour and habitat requirements,” Eugenie Sage said.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 02-02-2019 10:21 IST | Created: 02-02-2019 09:11 IST
Department study shows bittern relies on wetlands to feed and breed in
“This research shows the importance of the last 10 per cent of our wetlands across the country to enable wetland specialists like bittern to survive.” Image Credit: Flickr
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New research highlights the importance of New Zealand’s wetlands for one of our most secretive native birds, the Australasian bittern or matuku, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said today on World Wetlands Day.

GPS tracking of matuku/bittern has, for the first time, revealed that this threatened swamp dweller flies more than 300 km between wetlands in the eastern South Island as well as large distances between North Island wetland sites. Previously it was thought bittern ranged only small distances from their home wetlands.

The Department of Conservation-led study shows that bittern relies on a network of wetlands, to feed and breed in.  It also means matuku/bittern may be rarer than previously thought as birds have probably been double-counted in local counts in different parts of the country.

“Bittern are secretive birds that use a freeze pose to hide among wetland vegetation and are expert at evading people.  The GPS tracking has given new insights into their behaviour and habitat requirements,” Eugenie Sage said.

“In New Zealand, we have lost 90 per cent of our natural inland wetlands since the mid-1800s.  In addition, 74 per cent of our remaining wetlands are less than 10 ha in size, and wetland drainage and damage is continuing.

“This research shows the importance of the last 10 per cent of our wetlands across the country to enable wetland specialists like bittern to survive.”

In the study, male bittern was tracked flying 330 km from Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere in Canterbury to wetlands near Blenheim during the breeding season last spring.  They also flew 117km from Whangamarino wetland in north Waikato to south Kaipara and from Whangamarino to Kaituna in the Bay of Plenty.

“Wetlands are home to precious wildlife and plants including rare and threatened species like bittern, Canterbury mudfish and swamp helmet orchid. They also act as nature’s ‘kidneys’ filtering sediments and nutrients from runoff and as sponges in the landscape helping sustain rivers and streams in times of drought,” Eugenie Sage said.

“While DOC, councils, iwi, Fish & Game, community groups, supportive private landowners and businesses are making good progress in managing and restoring many significant wetlands, we need to value all of our remaining wetlands and do more to protect them.”

(With Inputs from New Zealand Government Press Release)

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