Bittern
27 September 2010
The bittern is a rare fish-eating bird, breeding exclusively in our larger, wetter reedbeds. Once found throughout the country, wetland drainage and persecution had caused the species’ extinction by the end of the nineteenth century. Breeding re-commenced in 1911 and numbers increased, but after the 1950s, numbers fell steadily as reedbeds dried and became further fragmented. It’s a Red-listed UK Bird of Conservation Concern and a UK BAP Priority Species.
Bittern © Marek Szczepanek
Latin name: Botaurus stellaris
Population numbers:
There were just 11 ‘booming’ (calling) males at 7 sites in 1997 – the low point in the bittern’s changing fortunes. This year (2010) there were 87 ‘booming’ males at 47 sites.
Where to see and when:
Bitterns are extremely difficult to observe, rarely leaving their reedbeds and matching their surrounding vegetation perfectly. They may even ‘freeze’ with neck outstretched in an upright posture and sway with the reeds when disturbed! Most are to be found along the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, in Broadland and the Fens and on the Somerset Levels. The best chance of seeing one is in flight over a reedbed in mid-summer or when forced to the edge of the reed by ice in winter.
What’s being done:
Once research had identified the cause of decline, conservationists led by the RSPB and Natural England set about a concerted programme of reedbed restoration (making them wetter by removing years of accumulated reed litter and by raising water levels) and creation. Much has been achieved and bitterns have responded well. More needs to be done, particularly as many of the birds’ favoured reedbeds are coastal and threatened by sea-level rise and increased storminess as our climate changes.
More information:
Annual bittern monitoring
(RSPB)Andy Brown and Phil Grice 2005. Birds in England, Poyser, London.
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Native plants, fungi and animals we featured each week for the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.
