Want to be a Boom Catcher?

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

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:

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


This project is being delivered with the following partners