Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00138:front:0:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00138
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 11749–14796

population can be divided into two subpopulations, the south-eastern and south-western subpopulations. The Australasian Bittern also occurs in New Zealand and New Caledonia (Marchant and Higgins 1990).

             In Queensland, the species occurs as far north as Yeppoon and west to Wyandra. In the south-east there is habitat remaining on Fraser Island, the Fraser Coast, North Stradbroke Island, Redlands and out into the Lockyer Valley. Key areas in Queensland where the species has been reliably seen in the past include the flood plains south of Byfield State Forest, Garnett's Lagoon, Bribie Island and Lake Clarendon.

             In New South Wales, it occurs along the coast and is also frequently recorded in the Murray–Darling Basin, notably in floodplain wetlands of the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan, Macquarie and Gwydir Rivers.

             In Victoria, it is recorded mostly in the southern coastal areas and in the Murray River region of central northern Victoria. The Barmah-Millewa Ramsar wetland complex is considered Australia's most important site, with up to 73 booming males (Herring et al. 2019a).

             In Tasmania, the species was formerly more widespread, however it is now absent from some major wetlands that have dried out (Marchant and Higgins 1990; Garnett and Crowley 2000). It occurs most commonly in the coastal regions in the north east, the east coast and on the islands of Bass Strait. Egg Islands has been identified as a Key Biodiversity Area for Australasian Bittern. The species also commonly occurs in the upper Derwent River estuary and Lakes Crescent and Sorell in central Tasmania (R. Gaffney pers. comm. 2018). Contemporary, distribution and population data from Tasmania is required to inform future management and recovery actions.

             In South Australia, it primarily occurs in the south-east, ranging north to the
             Murray River corridor and the Adelaide region, and west to the southern Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

             In Western Australia, the Australasian Bittern was formerly widespread in the south-west, ranging north to Moora, east to near Cape Arid, and inland possibly as far as the Toolibin Lake area (Jaensch et al. 1988). However, following extensive loss of habitat throughout the 1900s (e.g. due to drainage, salinization and ongoing urban development) the species is rarely recorded on the Swan coastal plain between Lancelin and Busselton. The species is however recorded more regularly in the southern coastal region from Augusta to the east of Albany and inland to some wetlands in the Jarrah forest belt (Lake Muir district), with small, isolated populations in swamps near Esperance eastwards to near Cape Arid (Jaensch et al. 1988; DBCA 2018).

   FIGURE 1 Indicative distribution of the Australasian Bittern

                   1.5            Population trends

             The estimated number of mature individuals is <2,000 globally with approximately 1,300 (range 750–1,800) in Australia (Herring et al. 2019a).