Funded by ORC, this project is led by the Otago Branch of Birds New Zealand with support from the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai (DOC), Forest and Bird, Te Nukuroa o Matamata, Tiaki Maniototo, as well as landowners and community groups across the region.  
 
The matuku-hūrepo is critically endangered in Aotearoa New Zealand, with less than 50 estimated to be remaining in Otago, and less than 1000 across the country; in fact, one estimate puts that number at less than 300!
 
“The project is to identify locations for matuku-hūrepo in Otago over a 5-year period to inform their future management,” says Dr Scott Jarvie, ORC’s Senior Scientist – Terrestrial Ecology.

"Spotting these elusive native birds is now a rare privilege, because their numbers have dramatically declined following destruction of 90% of their wetland habitat across Aotearoa New Zealand since European arrival.” 
 
Not only are matuku-hūrepo rare, but they are also masters of disguise. With streaky brown-and-cream feathers they can hide within reeds, vanishing in an instant by either slipping away silently or striking their famous ‘freeze’ pose, bill pointed skyward, swaying with the raupō (bulrush). 
 
However, each spring, male birds call to attract females at dawn and dusk. Their call is a low-pitched resonating boom that can carry for kilometres across wetlands. 
 
The Birds New Zealand Regional Representative for Otago Dawn Palmer says “it’s this distinctive call that helps us locate areas of interest for matuku-hūrepo. We mostly do this by positioning acoustic recording devices in or near wetlands to listen for booming males. We then analyse the recording in the hope we can detect them. Over the last three breeding seasons, we have identified matuku-hūrepo at several locations confirming that bittern are at least moving through the wetland habitats of Otago.”

Booming male matuku-hūrepo have been recorded in the Tahakopa and Fleming valleys, Catlins Lake, and the Dunvegan fen complex in The Catlins; Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau / Sinclair Wetlands, Lake Tuakitoto, and Akatore in Coastal Otago; in the Māniototo, Central Otago; and near Glenorchy and Coronet Station in Queenstown Lakes.

Bruce McKinlay, a Birds New Zealand member, says “while it’s encouraging to detect matuku-hūrepo in these locations, more information is needed from across Otago for this highly mobile bird species. We’ll be listening and recording in more locations this coming breeding season and hope to identify more sites being used by matuku-hūrepo.”

Only in August, Forest and Bird’s Tautuku Restoration project manager Francesca Cunninghame was thrilled when she encountered a matuku-hūrepo in the Fleming wetland, situated within Forest and Bird’s Lenz Reserve, near Papatōwai in The Catlins, less than 30 metres from where she had previously encountered one in September 2020.  
 
Ms Cunninghame says, “knowing that matuku-hūrepo are using this site further highlights the importance of wetland conservation and we hope our project’s efforts to control introduced mammals will further benefit native threatened wetland species.” 
 
Forest and Bird’s Catriona Gower will be supporting the upcoming Great Matuku Muster, which calls on people to listen for the booms of the male matuku-hūrepo. She says “volunteers are supported in most cases by regional coordinators who can help qualify and assign listening spots to optimise their reach. This may just be the best chance New Zealanders have of seeing or hearing a matuku- hūrepo in their lifetime.” 
 
For more information on The Great Matuku Muster, visit Love Bittern website. Those wanting to get involved in the Muster in Otago contact birds.otago@birdsnz.org.nz.

The project team is grateful for the support of landowners who have granted permission to deploy acoustic recording devices, or share their observation records, in or near wetlands across the Otago Region. 
 
Some of the wetlands that have been investigated are thanks members of the public and landowners sharing their observations following newspaper articles and outreach efforts through social media platforms, which has informed survey efforts for matuku-hūrepo in Otago. 
 

Report your sighting 

Those lucky enough to see a matuku-hūrepo are encouraged to email birds.otago@birdsnz.org.nz or report it on iNaturalist or eBird. These reports will feed into datasets to help monitor this rare native bird.

Further information

DOC Media Release: Matuku Muster providing valuable insight, 8 September 2025
ORC Media release: Sightings sought of elusive wetland birds, 21 September 2023