The Great Matuku-Hurepo Muster 2025 – Round 2

Matuku-hurepo | Australasian Bittern are a highly mobile species capable of traveling from region to region – which means that you could count one in your wetland one day and the same Bittern could be counted again in another place the next day.  ​The population of Matuku here in Aotearoa is unknown – somewhere between  250-1000 birds are left we think… and they are on the brink of extinction.

You can play an important role in helping us to count Bittern during their breeding season when the males can be heard booming. To join us you will need to be able to count the males booming for 1-3 days each month on the weekend closest to the full moon in Sept/Oct or Oct/Nov, for 60-90mins after your local sunset.

It’s time to get ready to join the Muster – we’re counting on you to help record male Bittern booming at a wetland near you in our second nationwide synchronised count. Last year was the first ever nationwide synchronised count! It was a huge success we had 512 people listen at 462 stations and count 223 individual male bittern booming! For 2024 RESULTS CLICK HERE.

We think we need to double our efforts in wetlands across Aotearoa and need more boots on the ground to help!

This years Muster dates are on or near 5,6,7 Sep | 3,4,5 Oct, | 7,8,9 Nov 2025. Groups can join for 1, 2, or 3 nights for 1, 2 or 3 months.

We are asking groups to get settled at their listening sites before sunset and to listen for 60-90minutes after sunset. This will help to compensate for the longer twilights in the South Island.