fbpx

Want to be a Boom Catcher?

How do I become a Boom Catcher?

In spring 2024 there is opportunity for volunteers to become Boom Catchers by noting down when they hear these secretive birds BOOM!

An image of a Bittern, a brown motley coloured bird walking along the edge of a waterway.
An Australasian Bittern. IMAGE: Imogen Warren

As part of the Australasian Bittern Recovery project, there is opportunity for people to become Boom Catchers!

We are currently seeking volunteers as part of the Australasian Bittern Listening Survey.

The listening survey will be the most extensive survey of these critically endangered Australasian Bittern and will be completed a sites all around Australia.

These secretive birds are difficult to see, as they keep a low profile in wetlands and their brown streaked plumage blends in with the dense vegetation. 

The best way to find a Bittern is to listen for their booming calls during the breeding season.

Male bitterns have a distinct, low booming call likened to a foghorn that they repeat several times in succession, calling most frequently at dawn and dusk during the spring summer.

What does a Bittern Boom sound like anyway?

Click on the player below to hear a booming Bittern.

What’s involved?

Becoming a Bittern Boom Catcher is very simple. It requires:

  • your time
  • a relative proximity to one of the survey sites (located all around Australia – the the map below) Book your site HERE
  • an ability to access the survey site during peak Bittern activity (dusk and dawn) during the survey weeks (one week each month of September, October, November and December, dates below)
  • The willingness to log the data you record on Birdlife’s BirdData record

Check out this short video about HOW to complete surveys:

When are the survey weeks?

As we prepare for this year’s Australasian Bittern Listening Surveys, there have been event pages in Birdata created. These event pages can be used to select sites to monitor and receive reminders for when to survey. Use the links below to do so:

Instructions for using the event page:

Click ‘Register’ (red rectangle). Then click ‘View Booking Map’ (blue rectangle)

Locate your site and click the ‘yellow circle’. Then select your preferred survey date and click ‘Book Site’.

Confirm you’re willing and able to undertake the survey by ticking the box and clicking ‘Confirm booking’.

I’d like to volunteer – what now?

If you are interested in participating, and even if you have participated before, it is important to brush up on knowing the risks involved, and how to survey correctly

Birdlife have put together the following information for volunteers to participate in the listening survey.

LISTENING SURVEY RISK ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT (PDF)

BITTERN LISTENING SURVEY CALL INVENTORY DOCUMENT (PDF)

WHAT A BITTERN SOUNDS LIKE AGAIN?

Still have questions?

If you would like to know more about the survey, please contact these project officers:

Jacinta Hendriks

Glenelg Hopkins CMA

j.hendriks@ghcma.vic.gov.au

Bradley Clarke-Wood

BirdLife Australia

bradley.clarke-wood@birdlife.org.au

Follow the Bittern Recovery project on Facebook here 

This project is being delivered with the following partners

Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority proudly acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Victoria and their rich cultural diversity and intrinsic connection to country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. We also recognise and acknowledge the contribution, interest and rights that Traditional Owners and Aboriginal communities have in land and water management. We value our partnerships with them, for the health of people and Country.