Distribution and habitat:Distribution and habitat:

Distribution and habitat:

In addition to Australia, the Australasian Bittern occurs in New Zealand and New Caledonia. In Australia, Australasian Bitterns can be divided into two subpopulations, the south eastern and south western subpopulations. The species occurs discontinuously along the east coast from south east Queensland to south east South Australia and Tasmania, extending into the Murray–Darling Basin. In Western Australia, it is presently confined to widely separated parts of the south western and south eastern coast and a small number of wetlands farther inland. Breeding of both subpopulations occurs at both coastal and inland sites. The Australasian Bittern preferred habitat comprises wetlands with dense vegetation from 0.5–3.5 metres in height, where it forages in still, shallow water up to 0.3 m deep, often at the edges of pools or waterways, or from platforms or mats of vegetation over deep water. It favours permanent and seasonal freshwater habitats, particularly those dominated by sedges, rushes and reeds, as well as rice crops.