A large, stocky heron with a thick neck, heavy yellowish bill and relatively short yellow legs. The beige plumage has dark brown streaking and mottling, and there is a buff eye-stripe on the mainly dark head.

You’ll be very lucky to ever see this large long-legged bird as it prefers to hide. You may see it in grass near water, or ‘sloping’ across the road. If you listen closely on a still night you may hear its faint booming call.

Australasian Bitterns are severely threatened, facing an immediate high risk of extinction, and several have recently been spot around in the vicinity of the Strathnaver Drive/ Reay Mackay grove lakes, a breeding area. These birds stay hidden, so as one local said, "it was a real treat to actually see it. I’ve recently been informed that an expert on Bittern visited this area and said the foliage in this spot isn’t right for it to be a breeding area. Clearly though, it is a foraging area".

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