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Common Reed Warbler

Common Reed Warbler

Acrocephalus scirpaceus

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The Common Reed Warbler is a slim, plain brown warbler that lives and nests in dense reedbeds across much of Europe and western Asia and migrates to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter. It moves easily through vertical reed stems and is more often heard than seen, singing a steady, chattering song that may include bits of mimicry.

Did you know?

  • It is one of the most frequent hosts of the Common Cuckoo.
  • The female alone weaves the deep cup nest, slinging it between reed stems over water.

Voice

Song
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

Brown above and pale below, a slender warbler that moves nimbly along reed stems. Told from Great Reed Warbler by its smaller size and more melodious song; easily confused with Marsh and Blyth's Reed Warblers. Compared with Marsh Warbler the back is more rufous and the song different; compared with Blyth's Reed Warbler the primary projection is longer and the back tone and song differ. The call is a short “tret”.

Family

Acrocephalidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

brown, white, orange

About the habitat

Dense stands of common reed along lakes, marshes, rivers and reed-fringed ditches, often with scattered bushes; also damp scrub.

Diet

Mostly insects and other small invertebrates such as beetles, flies, caterpillars and spiders; in late summer also small berries.

Behaviour

A skulking reedbed specialist that climbs through stems, gleaning prey from leaves and reeds. Males return in spring ahead of females. Usually monogamous; the female weaves a deep, basket-like cup nest slung between several reed stems above water, so it can flex with wind and water level, and both parents share incubation and feeding. A frequent host of the Common Cuckoo, it has evolved careful egg-checking against brood parasitism.

Sources

Photo: Jürgen Freisinger, CC BY 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PleidelsheimerWiesentalTeichrohrsaenger.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC731693, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/731693

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC823747, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/823747

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_reed_warbler

See also