Calling All Bitterns

Numbers Still Dangerously Low

RSPB Press Release, 21st April 1999

Numbers of Britain's most secretive bird, the bittern, remain at a dangerously low level with only 13 or 14 males
booming this spring, reports the RSPB. Hopes of an increase this spring are receding and the Society is calling for
any reports of bitterns heard or seen to be sent in.

Preliminary counts this spring of the distinctive calling males reveal that the stronghold in East Anglia has only
eight or nine birds - three at Minsmere, Suffolk, one at Titchwell, Norfolk (all on RSPB reserves), three in The
Broads , and one or two at other sites. Three birds are in Lancashire at the RSPB's Leighton Moss reserve and a
further two in two other English counties.

Bittern numbers are estimated by counting the males when they display in spring, giving their loud booming call.
Individual calls can be identified by their 'voice-print', giving an accurate count. Some other birds can also be
located using radio-transmitters fitted when they were young but the whereabouts of only four or five of last
year's tagged birds is known - the remaining 14 have vanished.

The booming call is given from the depths of a reedbed and can be heard more than a mile away. Anyone hearing
a bittern, or seeing one with a radio tag or ring on its leg, should report it to Gillian Gilbert, RSPB, The Lodge,
Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL. Telephone on 01767 680551 or e-mail on gillian.gilbert@rspb.org.uk.

Gillian Gilbert, RSPB research biologist, said: "Bitterns are critically endangered in the UK. Numbers of calling
males have halved in the last few years and the signs so far this year do not indicate any increase. We are
desperate to know about any bitterns heard away from the East Anglian or Lancashire strongholds and of any
sightings of tagged birds."

For further information contact:

Chris Harbard RSPB press officer 01767 681577

Dr Ken Smith RSPB head of aquatic research 01767 680551

Chris Durdin RSPB East Anglia press officer 01603 660066

• Photographs of bittern are available in traditional or digital format from RSPB Images - ring
0171 608 7325 and ask for Zoe Beech.
• Video film of bitterns is available from the RSPB press office - ring 01767 681577.

Additional notes:

1. The bittern is one of the rarest of the UK's threatened breeding birds. It has been in decline since the
mid-l950s. In 1954 there were 78-83 booming males in seven counties. By 1987 this had declined to
22-25, and by 1994 there were only 15 or 16. Numbers began to recover with 22 males in 1996 but fell
dramatically to only 11 in 1997 and 13 in 1998.
2. Bitterns are secretive members of the heron family which are dependent on reedbeds where they breed
and feed mainly on fish and amphibians. They can suffer in severe winters when many die if their
wetland habitats become frozen.
3. The UK breeding population of bitterns is now concentrated in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lancashire and the
main threat to them is habitat deterioration. In winter they can be found further afield on gravel pits,
rivers and lakes. Some bitterns from continental Europe come to the UK for the winter to escape the
freezing conditions elsewhere.
4. The bittern has been included in the UK Government's Biodiversity Action Plans with the RSPB as lead
partner. A grant of £1.5 million has been given by the EU's LIFE programme to a partnership of
conservation organisations and is being used to restore and extend reedbeds across the UK.
Keep An Ear Out For A Crake
RSPB press release, 5th May 1998

One of the UK's rarest birds is being surveyed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which is also
asking the public for help.

As part of a new survey of the UK's Corncrakes, the general public are being asked to listen for their distinctive
song. As they largely sing at dusk, through the night and very early in the morning, the RSPB is asking postmen,
milkmen, newspaper deliverers, health visitors, farm workers and anyone who might be out and about at such
hours to be especially alert.

Corncrakes spend most of their time hidden in tall vegetation and the only clue to their presence is their song.
May and June are the best months to listen as the birds have just arrived from their winter quarters in Africa and
are eager to set up territory and find a mate. The male sings his rather monotonous song which has a rasping,
buzzing quality and consists of two notes 'crake-crake' repeated frequently, sometimes for hours at a time.

A special Corncrake Hotline has been set up to take calls from anyone who thinks they have heard a Corncrake.
Details of date, time of day, place and habitat will all be needed to help confirm the record. To pass on details of
a record, ring 01767 680551 and ask for the Corncrake Hotline.

Once fairly widespread across the UK, the Corncrake has declined in numbers and range this century and is now
largely confined to the islands off the west of Scotland and the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland. Every year
birds are found calling in areas away from the main core of its range and it is these birds which the RSPB is keen
to hear about.

The Corncrake survey is taking place from May 20th to July 10th and only birds which are singing during this
period will be counted. Records of any birds heard before this date are still needed as the birds might stay.

Dr. David Gibbons, RSPB head of monitoring and surveys, said: "Corncrakes will sometimes stop and sing on
their way to breeding areas further north, and there is always the chance that some may find a suitable field and
try to set up territory in earnest. We need to know where these birds are, especially if they attempt to breed, and
the only way is to ask for help from anyone who might hear them. Postmen and milkmen are just some of the
people who might hear them on their travels. The Hotline is their chance to help save these threatened birds."

Additional Notes

1. The decline in number and range of Corncrakes reflects the changes in agricultural practices which have
taken place since the 19th century. The mechanisation of grass cutting combined with earlier cutting
dates have led to greater mortality and losses of nests. Mowing is later in the north and west of
Scotland and this has become the last stronghold for the species.
2. More than 90% of the Corncrake's breeding population is monitored annually but this year a fuller
survey is taking place. Since the last full survey in 1993 there has been a 43% increase in population in
the core breeding area which may mean more birds elsewhere.
3. The 1993 survey found a total of 480 singing birds, with most of these on the Hebridean Islands. This
total represented a decline of 17% since 1988 and 34% since 1978.
4. In 1997 a total of 668 singing birds was recorded. There were at least 34 reports of Corncrakes outside
the main breeding areas which 21 were confirmed as genuine.
5. The recent reversal of Cirncrake decline in Scotland has been brought about through a recovery
programme which has been organised by the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and, from 1992-6, the
EU's LIFE Nature programme. This has involved: reserve purchase and management; grant schemes to
fund delayed mowing; promotion of agri-environment schemes to help Corncrakes.
6. As a globally threatened bird the Corncrake is a priority species for action under the Government's
Biodiversity Action Plan and together with the Scottish Office Agricultural, Environment and Fisheries
Department the RSPB is lead partner for implementing the plan.

For further information contact:

Chris Harbard
RSPB press officer
01767 681577

David Gibbons
RSPB head of monitoring and surveys
01767 680551

A photograph of a Corncrake is available in digital or traditional format.

Ring
0171 608 7325
ask for Jason and ask for the Corncrake Hotline picture.

A recording of Corncrake song is also available via ISDN - please contact the RSPB press office on 01767 681

FIELD NOTES

FEBRUARY 2003 continued....

ARTICLES
Lee Valley Wintering Bittern Research Project

For some years the Rye Meads Ringing Group has been developing a project to study the precise
requirements of wintering Bitterns in the Lee Valley. As between 5 and 10% of Britain's wintering
Bitterns now spend the winter in the Lee Valley there is clearly something they like!

The project has been funded by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and Thames Water Utilities,
and this enabled me to start the six-month contract in October 2002.

The first Bittern arrived in the Valley on 8 October and traditional sites were gradually occupied with
new birds continuing to arrive up to the end of November, by which time eight had been located. I
spent most days checking reed-beds, noting the characteristics of those occupied by Bitterns, and
watching for birds at dawn and dusk at likely roost sites. Enjoyable days have been spent in the Lee
Valley Park's Bittern Watch-point, noting every aspect of their life, including their (often massive)
daily intake of fish.

Bitterns are very difficult to study due to the reed-bed habitat they prefer, and one aspect of the
project was to try and find out how far individual Bitterns move about the Valley in the course of a
winter. Are we over-counting them? Is a Bittern a seen at Amwell one day, then in the Cheshunt
gravel pits the day after?

To answer this question I planned to catch a Bittern, using nets, and fit it with a radio transmitter
(tag), and track it around the Valley. Initially I thought the best site for this was Rye Meads, the
area with which I am most familiar: if not there, then possibly at Amwell. At both sites Bitterns were
present, but very difficult to locate (what they needed was radio tags!).

In the event, the successful trapping of a Bittern was finally achieved at the Pochard Hide reed-bed
in the North Metropolitan Police Pit at Cheshunt on 16 January 2003. A large mesh mistnet was
erected before dawn in a corner of the reedbed frequented by a Bittern, and at 0850 the Bittern
walked into it, entangling itself on the backward facing spikes in the palate of the upper mandible.
After months of early mornings, wet feet, self doubt and total exhaustion I'd finally caught one.
As I took hold of the Bittern and started to extract it from the net I was shocked to see it was
already ringed! The address on the ring began with a B. My mind was racing. Belarus! (Ken Smith,
who has been leading Bittern research at the RSPB told me they're ringing some there, wherever
there is). No, not Belarus Alan, it was British Museum. British Museum! A bird ringed in Britain. I
couldn't believe it. I have firmly held the view (and still do, despite the present contrary evidence)
that Bitterns wintering in the Lee valley are mainly of continental origin. But this one wasn't.

Ken Smith, Alan Harris and Gillian Gilbert radio-tracking the Bittern

I secured the bird and arranged to meet RSPB scientists Ken Smith and Gillian Gilbert. They duly
arrived with the tag and information regarding the original ringing details. It had been ringed by
Gillian as a female chick in Lincolnshire on 6 June 2001, one of a brood of five. Gillian hadn't been
able to find the bird once it had fledged and had doubted its survival. With the tag fitted and
operational the Bittern was released back into the Pochard Hide reedbed, and the tracking could
begin.

The range of the tag is around a mile, but with longevity of perhaps a year. So far (and it's early
days), the Bittern has remained in the Pochard Hide reedbed almost all of the time, both roosting
and feeding, with a short excursion to the Bittern Watchpoint, proving the very sedentary nature of
some Bitterns once established in their winter quarters. I most look forward now to the spring. Will
she go or stay, and if she goes, where to? Her departure will spark off a search in all the likely
reedbeds in Britain, starting with Lincolnshire. Will she return next winter?

With all the effort going into reedbed creation in the Lee Valley it is heartening to know that a
British-bred Bittern is already using the amenities. If Bitterns are to breed in the Lee Valley the
pioneer birds are most likely to come from British stock. So, it's good news all round!

Alan Harris
Boom time for Britain's bitterns in 2004
The bittern has become one of Britain's greatest wildlife success stories,
says the RSPB and English Nature.

Figures reveal the number of these rare, shy herons has increased fivefold in just seven years.

A government action plan for the bittern hoped for 50 booming bitterns by 2010, but the target has been
broken six years early.

In 1997, only eleven bitterns were found during a UK-wide survey, but this year experts counted at least 55
bitterns at 30 sites, including strongholds in East Anglia and around the Humber with others in Lancashire,
Wales, Kent and Somerset.

A highlight from the East of England was an increase to 17 booming bitterns in the Norfolk Broads, up
from 12 in 2003.

Michael Green, the Broads Authority's Director of Research and Strategy, said: "This is a real cause for
celebration, both nationally and locally here in the Broads where we have been working for many years to
try toThe return of the bittern in increasing numbers to the Broads is evidence of these efforts, in
partnership with the RSPB and others, through the European Life-Nature projects," said Mr Green.

In Suffolk, RSPB Minsmere recorded an increase, to nine 'boomers', for the sixth successive year.

The newly created reedbeds at the RSPB's Lakenheath Fen nature reserve attracted a booming bittern, but
not for long enough for
it to feature in the national total of 55 boomers.

Dr Gillian Gilbert, the RSPB's bittern researcher, said: "Bitterns are now recovering at a faster rate than
anyone dared hope for only a few years ago, when its numbers were in steep decline.

"The bittern needs extensive wet reedbeds to survive but decades of drainage, pollution and lack of
management destroyed most of their available habitat and by 1997 we feared it faced imminent extinction
in Britain," said Dr Gilbert.

Commenting on the vulnerability of the bittern, Dr Ken Smith, head of aquatic research at the RSPB, said:

"Habitat destruction and persecution pushed the bittern to extinction in Britain by 1886.

"Fortunately, the bird recolonised a few decades later. We shouldn't be complacent as pressures still
threaten this vulnerable bird. For example, half the sites holding booming bitterns this year are at risk from
rising sea levels."

Happily, bittern numbers were not down at Walberswick (English Nature) and Dingle (Suffolk Wildlife
Trust/RSPB) after last winter's salt water flooding when the sea wall fronting the marshes breached: in the
reedbeds here there were five boomers this year (three in 2003).

Fish monitoring this coming autumn should help us understand this apparent recovery.

The bittern is a conservation priority across Europe. Recognising this importance, the European Union's
Life-Nature programme has part funded two projects in the UK to help restore the bittern's fortunes.

The latest project, launched last year by a consortium of organisations will restore and create a network of
19 bittern-friendly sites across England.

It is hoped that when these sites are mature enough they will help expand the bittern population to reach the
next milestone of 100 booming males by 2020.

In the Broads, a further increase in bittern numbers in the future is expected at the reedbed and wetland
creation at Buttle Marsh near the How Hill nature reserve.

restore habitats that are potentially suitable for bitterns.

The difference we make to environmental ideas

The British Library Sound Archive, the most comprehensive in the world, generated
delighted media attention last year when it announced that the wildlife sound section was
licensing 80 animal noises to mobile phone ringtone suppliers.

The Archive identified the market opportunities available with the launch of next
generation handsets, and teamed up with agents 3GXMobile to broker the innovative
deals.

However, behind what might seem just quirky charm is the direct and serious
contribution which the Library's bioacoustic recordings make to zoology and ecology
researchers seeking solutions to environ-mental dilemmas, including identification and
protection of species. The diversity of their research programmes is fuelled by the
Library's extraordinary range of 150,000 recordings, representing over 10,000 species.

Scottish Natural Heritage is using the Archive's recordings to relocate Arctic Terns. The
protected terns left their reserve at St Cyrus to nest on an industrial estate in Montrose,
and have been displaying their usual safeguarding behaviour: divebombing the workforce
and customers. The businesses affected brought in Scottish Natural Heritage to discuss
health and safety concerns. The result: the Sound Archive's recordings of gull colonies
are played on the roofs of the buildings, and because terns dislike nesting near gulls, they
don't settle. Meanwhile at their former home, the noise of nesting terns is broadcast from
weatherproof battery-powered sound systems, to lure the colony back to its protected site.

Another protected species has benefited from research assisted by the Sound Archive. In
1990 Dr Gillian Gilbert of Nottingham University began analysing our recordings of one
of Britain's rarest birds, the bittern. The male bittern booms like a foghorn, and Dr
Gilbert discovered that the patterns of the distinctive call are unique to individual birds.
Camouflaged in their reedbed homes, bitterns are notoriously difficult to count and Dr
Gilbert used acoustic analysis to help census the endangered population. By 1997 the
male bittern population had dropped to eleven. The Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds used these alarming findings to publicise the need to protect and improve the
bitterns' habitat. The bittern population is now growing again, and more than forty males
were recorded in 2003. Richard Ranft, the Sound Archive's bioacoustics expert, says that
'such a positive outcome demonstrates the long-term and indirect benefits of our work.
I'm proud that the Sound Archive was able to help rescue the bittern from the brink of
extinction in Britain.'

While the bittern's a one-song creature, the bushbaby has one of the most complex
vocalisations known. Some bushbabies have as many as twenty different calls. Each
species produces a different range of sounds, and Professor Simon Bearder of Oxford
Brookes University used their distinctive vocal repertoire to identify twelve new species
to add to the six previously known to science.

Professor Bearder explains that bushbaby species can be very similar in appearance, but
be genetically distinct. 'I'd been doing field research in Africa on speciation in bushbabies
and I needed a way to identify potentially different species at a distance. I'd recognised
that different species had their own vocabularies, and heard that the Sound Archive was
doing pioneering work using sonographs to analyse animal calls.'

'I sought their advice on recording technology and sound analysis. I recorded bushbabies
in different locations across East Africa and found that sonograph analysis supported my
hypothesis that separate species had evolved in a number of locations. I was then able to
confirm this by genetic analysis. Now I add my recordings to the British Library's
Archive and continue to listen to new examples contributed by other zoologists. When
sonograph analysis suggests a potentially unrecognised species, I know where I need to
investigate further. There are strong evolutionary forces acting on animal populations in
Africa and this work helps to advance our understanding of how genetic differences
emerge. Bioacoustics makes an increasing contribution to evolutionary biology, and the
more accessible the Library can make its collection, the greater the impact it can have.'

1.5m discs, tapes, CDs and cylinders, make up the world's most comprehensive Sound
Archive

Boom times for Britain's bitterns

The bittern has become one of Britain's greatest wildlife success stories, says the RSPB
and English Nature, as figures released today reveal the number of these rare shy herons
has increased fivefold in just seven years.

In 1997 only eleven bitterns were found during a UK-wide survey, but this year experts
counted at least 55 bitterns at 30 sites, including strongholds in East Anglia and around
the Humber with others in Lancashire, Wales, Kent and Somerset. A government action
plan for the bittern hoped for 50 booming bitterns by 2010, but the target has been
broken six years early.

Dr Gillian Gilbert, the RSPB's bittern researcher, said:Bitterns are now recovering at a
faster rate than anyone dared hope for only a few years ago, when its numbers were in
steep decline.

"The bittern needs extensive wet reedbeds to survive but decades of drainage, pollution,
and lack of management destroyed most of their available habitat and by 1997 we feared
it faced imminent extinction in Britain."
Dr Andy Brown, head of ornithology at English Nature, said: “Today’s announcement is
testament to the success of a wide range of partners in restoring this country's reedbeds.
While rescuing the bittern, the work has helped a range of other spectacular wetland
species, from the otter to the marsh harrier. The future of conservation in England will
increasingly rely on partners working together to restore the fortunes of some of our
rarest species and habitats."

Backed by the European Union and The Cooperative Bank, conservationists launched an
ambitious and successful survival plan for the bird in Britain primarily creating and
restoring a network of sites, across England and Wales, large enough for bitterns.
Additional effort has been spent on researching the bittern's ecological requirements and
monitoring their numbers.

The bittern is a conservation priority across Europe. Recognising this importance, the
European Union's Life-Nature programme has part funded two projects in the UK to help
restore the bittern's fortunes. The latest project, launched last year by a consortium of
organisations [see editors' notes] will restore and create a network of 19 bittern-friendly
sites across England. It is hoped that when these sites are mature enough they will help
expand the bittern population to reach the next milestone of 100 booming males by 2020.

Commenting on the vulnerability of the bittern, Dr Ken Smith, the head of aquatic
research at the RSPB, said: "Habitat destruction and persecution pushed the bittern to
extinction in Britain by 1886. Fortunately, the bird recolonised a few decades later. We
shouldn't be complacent as pressures still threaten this vulnerable bird. For example, half
the sites holding booming bitterns this year are at risk from rising sea levels."

Notes for editors

1. The UK's bittern population is counted annually with joint funding from English
Nature and the RSPB. Researchers use the male bittern's foghorn-like booming
call as a method for estimating the population of this otherwise secretive bird.
2. The bittern has had a chequered history in Britain. After decades of persecution
the bird finally became extinct by about 1886. It recolonised in 1911 and the
population increased to an estimated 80 booming males in the 1950s. After this
peak, the population declined once more to its recent low point in 1997.
3. The Broads Authority; English Nature; Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust;
Lancashire Wildlife Trust; Lea Valley Regional Park Authority; The Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds; Rye Harbour Nature Reserve; and Yorkshire Wildlife
Trust are all partners in the European Union-funded Life-Nature project entitled:
Developing a strategic network of SPA reedbeds for Botaurus stellaris [the
bittern].
4. The Co-operative Bank has been the official species sponsor of the bittern and the
RSPB receives £10,000 per year towards its habitat restoration work. The
Heritage Lottery Fund and Defra have provided funds for habitat management
work at key bittern sites.
5. The following photographs are available free of charge from RSPB Images in
digital or traditional format. To place an order please email RSPB Images on:
rspb@thatsgood.biz Please remember to include the reference numbers of the
image required. 2000_1141_009 Bittern feeding. Picture: Andy Hay, RSPB Images
2000_1142_009 Bittern wading in reedbed, head up (landscape) Picture: Andy
Hay, RSPB Images, 2000_1143_009 Bittern wading in reedbed, head down
(portrait) Picture: Andy Hay, RSPB Images, 6046000-00172-009 Leighton Moss
RSPB reserve, view over reedbed Picture: Andy Hay, RSPB Images, 6078500-
 00004-002 Strumpshaw Fen RSPB reserve, overlooking reedbed and open water
Picture: Chris Gomersall, RSPB Images. Please note these pictures are only to be
used in conjunction with the Boom Times for Britain's Bitterns story. Sound clips
and broadcast-quality radio interviews: To arrange an ISDN interview with an
RSPB spokesman please contact Grahame Madge at the RSPB press office. Sound
clips of bittern booming (44 seconds),are also available, via the RSPB's ISDN line,
from Grahame Madge at the RSPB press office.

Broadcast-quality footage: Broadcast-quality Beta footage of bitterns is available

on request from the RSPB press office. Please note this footage is only to be used
in conjunction with the Boom Times for Britain's Bitterns story.

Contacts
Grahame Madge, RSPB press officer, on 01767 681577. Out of hours : 07702 196902.
English Nature's National Press Office on 01733 455190, out-of-hours 07970 098 005,
email: press@english-nature.org.uk or go to www.english-nature.org.uk

Bittern numbers are booming

News Category: Rural / Wildlife

26 August 2003

Joint research by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and English
Nature has revealed the most dramatic annual increase in the population of the bittern,
one of the UK’s rarest birds, since this species started to recover from near extinction in
1997. Results show that numbers of this extremely rare bird have reached at least 42
booming males, nearly quadruple the number recorded just six years ago, making this a
triumph for conservation.

The bittern is a stocky, thick-necked heron, generally golden brown with distinct black
markings and dark crown. It is a very secretive bird and is often difficult to see as it is
well camouflaged in the reedbed habitat in which it is found.

Bittern numbers had dropped dramatically in the past as large areas of reedbed habitat on
which the bitterns depend were drained, destroyed or neglected leaving many bitterns
without a home. However, intensive work to create new reedbeds, and better
management of existing areas, has helped reverse the previously dramatic decline in the
population, for example at RSPB’s Strumpshaw Fen, which has seen bitterns recently re-
established.

Male bitterns are recognised by their far-carrying booming call, a foghorn sound that
males do to announce their territory and attract females. This is the lowest-pitched and
the most far-carrying ‘song’ produced by any European bird. It can be heard up to three
miles (5 km) away in the right weather conditions.
Gillian Gilbert, RSPB bittern ecologist, said: “The bittern is still so rare that we know
each of these birds individually. But these results are extremely encouraging and point to
the achievements of recent conservation work.”

Such progress owes much of its success to an EU LIFE Nature funded programme started
in 1996, together with dedicated work by other landowners, such as Lincolnshire Wildlife
Trust, to save this species from extinction in the UK. This work has been additionally
supported by funding from the Co-operative Bank, which is the RSPB’s species
champion for the bittern, helping towards this species meeting its national Biodiversity
Action Plan target, to increase the population of booming males to 50 by 2010.

A new £4 million project, launched in May this year, will now build on the success of the
first project and will see ideal habitat for bitterns developed at 19 sites throughout
England. More than £2m of this has come from the EU LIFE Nature Fund.

Andy Brown, Head of Ornithology at English Nature, said: “This is an important

investment as not only does it help to bring back a species that has been pushed to the
brink of extinction but with new reedbeds being created and old ones restored, other
wildlife has also profited. Wildlife that has benefited ranges from the majestic marsh
harrier, which has staged a spectacular recovery over the past couple of decades, to
bearded tit, otter and water vole for which reedbeds are a stronghold. These results show
clearly what can be achieved when well-funded project partners work together to put into
practice the results of their sound science.”

Gillian Gilbert added: “People benefit too, for example Minsmere Nature Reserve, which
is home to eight booming bitterns, is enjoyed by 60,000 visitors a year, many of whom
turn up just for a chance of seeing what remains one of the UK’s most threatened birds.”

Sites at which booming bitterns have been recorded include RSPB Reserves at Minsmere
in Suffolk, Northwood Hill in Kent, Strumpshaw Fen in Norfolk, North Warren in
Suffolk and Leighton Moss in Lancashire; and English Nature’s Walberswick and
Westwood Marshes Reserve, and Easton Broad Reserve in Suffolk.