Another record-breaking year for the UK’s loudest bird - RSPB

Why the Bittern, a wetland bird previously threatened with extinction from the UK, is on the up.

It’s been another record-breaking year for Bitterns in the UK with 283 booming males recorded in the latest results from the RSPB and Natural England, a 20% increase from the previous survey and the biggest jump since monitoring began in 1990. 

Giving Bitterns the reedbeds to succeed

Bitterns have a checkered history in the UK. Persecution and habitat loss drove the birds to extinction by the late nineteenth century. They returned to Norfolk in 1900 but suffered another drop in numbers to just 11 remaining booming males left by 1997.

Determined to stop Bitterns becoming extinct once more from the UK, we teamed up with Natural England on a major targeted conservation effort in order to stop the decline.

Bitterns are dependent on reedbeds and so we set out creating and restoring these wetland habitats, to create the conditions they need to feed and breed successfully. This has been vital to their success – and it’s thanks to our many members, supporters and funders that this vital work has been possible.

Bitterns on RSPB nature reserves

Today, over half of the UK’s Bittern population can be found on RSPB nature reserves, with 138 recorded booming. This includes RSPB Minsmere and RSPB Lakenheath Fen, and on the Avalon Marshes, notably at RSPB Ham Wall. Long-term reedbed creation and restoration across these sites have provided the specific conditions that Bitterns need for breeding.