---
title: "Australasian Bittern"
description: "Botaurus poiciloptilus — Uccelli. The Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), or Matuku-hūrepo in Māori, is a stocky, sizeable and elusive heron-like bird native to the wetlands of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/australasian-bittern
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Australasian Bittern

> Botaurus poiciloptilus — Uccelli. The Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), or Matuku-hūrepo in Māori, is a stocky, sizeable and elusive heron-like bird native to the wetlands of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia.

- Scientific name: *Botaurus poiciloptilus*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi)
- iNaturalist observations: 735
- Wikidata: [Q783076](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q783076)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5032](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5032)

## Names

- en: Australasian Bittern
- de: Australische Rohrdommel
- es: Avetoro australiano
- fr: Butor d'Australie
- nl: Australische roerdomp
- pt: Socó-boi-marrom
- pl: Bąk australijski

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (424), AU (169)

## Summary

The Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), or Matuku-hūrepo in Māori, is a stocky, sizeable and elusive heron-like bird native to the wetlands of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. It belongs to the bittern subfamily of the heron family Ardeidae. The Australasian bittern is best known for its cryptic plumage and behaviours, which allows it to blend into the rushes and reeds of its wetland habitats, making it particularly difficult to spot. Despite being rarely seen, Australasian bittern males have a distinct "booming" call that can carry long distances. This call is said to resemble that of a Bunyip…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_bittern

## Photo

![Australasian Bittern](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/australasian-bittern/medium.jpg)

Photo: Erik Schiff · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/330909875

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/australasian-bittern?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).