Bitterns in Rice

CICL supports the Bitterns in Rice Project; a joint effort between the Rice-Growers’ Association of Australia and Birdlife Australia. The aim of the project is to promote, protect and study one of Australia’s most endangered and elusive birds, the Australasian Bittern, otherwise known as “the Bunyip Bird”. Traditionally grown rice crops in the Riverina constitute crucial habitat for the endangered Bittern, with numerous sightings of the species in rice crops grown in the Coleambally Irrigation District. CICL has been working with the Bitterns in Rice team to monitor Bittern breeding in our area and to help develop recommendations for Bittern-friendly rice farming.

As one of the donors for this important project, the first Bittern to be tracked by satellites as part of the Bitterns in Rice project was named after CICL’s employee, Mark Robb. You can read about Robbie’s adventures and find out more about the remarkable story of the Bittern by visiting this website.