5

Australasian Bitterns are the largest bitterns found in Australia. Their plumage is highly cryptic. The front is creamy, with heavy streaking from the chest down. The back is darker than the front, brownish, with copious darker grey-brown streaking, in particular on the upperwing coverts. The crown is also dark grey-brown. The ear coverts are rufous-brown, while the rest of the long, strong neck is darker brown, partly streaked. The facial skin in front of the eyes is bluish-grey. The strong, straight horn-grey bill is pointed, with a slightly darker upper mandible than the lower one. The irises are yellow; legs and feet are grey to greyish-green.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Australasian Bittern is available HERE .

Australasian Bitterns populate parts of southern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Ouvea.

In Australia, Australasian Bitterns are found mostly in the South-east, but also in the far South-west of the continent, plus Tasmania, the smaller islands along Bass Straight and on Kangaroo Island. In the South-east of the continent their range extends from the far south-eastern corner of SA, via all of VIC into NSW, i.e. the Murray-Darling Basin inland and a near-coastal strip, up to far south-eastern QLD. Within that range, they are only rarely found in the Great Dividing Range. In the South-west of the continent they populate a narrow coastal strip from Perth, WA, to Cape Arid on the South coast of WA.

Australasian Bitterns live around well-vegetated wetlands, such as swamps, estuaries and along streams. They can also be found in irrigated crops, in particular in rice fields.

M. Herring (Bitterns in Rice Project) reports the presence of several Australasian Bitterns in irrigated rice paddies around Coleambally, NSW, over several years, including the 2016/17 breeding season.

M. Eaton reports finding an Australasian Bittern at Sandy Camp Road Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, in June 2024.

2 Australasian Bitterns were spotted by us at Hexham Swamp, Hunter Wetlands, Newcastle, NSW, in July 2025.