A globally endangered bird has been seen at Travis Wetland and has thrilled Christchurch ornithologists.
The bird is the Australasian brown bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus) and the Christchurch City Council's bird
consultant, Andrew Crossland, says he saw the bittern at Travis Wetland last weekend. He says it appeared just a year
after the Wetland area was created. "The area has done the almost impossible and attracted a bittern. And there may be
more," he says. Mr Crossland says the bittern, a large brown heron-like bird about the size of a turkey, used to be
common in Christchurch swamps but is now classed as a globally endangered species and is the rarest of the 50-odd
wetland birds species that regularly occur in the city. Earlier that day Mr Crossland saw a brown bittern at a Coutts
Island swamp area. Mr Crossland also came across a new species in the Travis Wetland on Monday 5 June. This was a
black-fronted tern. He says it is an endemic South Island species that nests inland (mainly on braided rivers) and
winters on the coast. The tern was one of the species expected to arrive at the newly developed Travis Wetland. The
Australian glossy ibis is also back at the wetland for its second winter, Mr Crossland says. He says it is likely to
have migrated to Australia for the spring and summer and then returned here. There are usually only 10-20 in the whole
country "so its encore appearance should be seen as indicative of how attractive Travis Wetland has become for wetland
birds," Mr Crossland says.
Further information: John Skilton, City Council ranger, 382 9527 or Kay Holder, 025 201 5657. Andrew Crossland, 351 6103
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