The RSPB and Natural England have released the 2024 survey results for booming bitterns, and it’s great news with a record-breaking year.
In the largest annual jump since monitoring began in 1990, there was a 20 per cent increase from 2023 with 283 booming males recorded – including at 12 new sites.
The deep call of the bittern is distinctive, and only produced by the male bird. This unusual boom is made during spring, when he is calling to attract a female to mate with. The sound is the loudest bird call in the UK, and can be heard up to three miles away.
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Despite their relatively large size, bitterns are elusive and can be difficult to spot. They live in the reedbeds of wetlands, where they are camouflaged against the vegetation.
As such, they can be hard to survey, and males and females are very tough to distinguish in the field. Conservationists count the number of booming males, and compare the results between years to see how the population is fairing.
The bittern actually went extinct in the UK in the 1800s, and although they returned in the 1900s, by 1997 there were just 11 booming males. This decline prompted conservationists to work to restore wetlands, and to create new ones, particularly focusing on habitat that was safe from coastal flooding.
“As valuable reedbed habitat remains threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change, these vital breeding sites continue to provide important refuge for bitterns and other wetland species,” says Simon Wotton, RSPB senior conservation scientist.
“With bittern previously threatened with extinction, their recovery is a clear example of how dedicated conservation action combined with the right leadership and resources, can help us rise to the challenges we face in this nature and climate emergency."
More than half of the UK’s booming bitterns are found on nature reserves run by the RSPB, with notable sites including RSPB Lakenheath Fen (also home to common cranes) and RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk, RSPB Leighton Moss in Lancashire, RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset (also famous for its starling murmurations), and RSPB Cors Ddyga on Anglesey.
Main image: Eurasian bittern in Lincolnshire. Credit: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
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