Common reed warbler

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Common reed warbler
Acrocephalus scirpaceus Vlaskop cropped.jpg
Song recorded in Surrey, England
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acrocephalidae
Genus: Acrocephalus
Species:
A. scirpaceus
Binomial name
Acrocephalus scirpaceus
(Hermann, 1804)
Subspecies

See text

AcrocephalusScirpaceusIUCN.svg
Distribution
  Breeding range
  Resident year-round
  Passage
  Non-breeding range

The common reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus . It breeds across Europe into the temperate western Palaearctic where it is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also a resident species over large parts of Africa.

Contents

Taxonomy

The common reed warbler was formally described in 1804 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann under the binomial name Turdus scirpaceus. [2] The type locality is Alsace. [3] The common reed warbler is now one of around 40 species placed in the genus Acrocephalus that was introduced by Johann Andreas Naumann and his son Johann Friedrich Naumann in 1811. [4] The genus name Acrocephalus is from Ancient Greek akros, "highest", and kephale, "head". It is possible that the Naumanns thought akros meant "sharp-pointed". The specific scirpaceus is from Latin and means "reed". [5]

Ten subspecies are recognised: [4]

An older scientific name for the reed warbler was Acrocephalus streperus (Vieill.). [10]

The mostly resident Iberian and African subspecies are sometimes treated as a separate species, the African reed warbler (Acrocephalus baeticatus). [4] [11] [12]

Description

This is a medium-sized warbler, 13 cm (5.1 in) in length with a wing-span of 17–21 cm (6.7–8.3 in). [13] The adult has an unstreaked brown back and buff underparts. The forehead is flattened, and the bill is strong and pointed. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds are richer buff below. The common reed warbler looks similar to the great reed warbler, but the great reed warbler is larger in size and has a stronger supercilium.

The song is a slow, chattering jit-jit-jit with typically acrocephaline whistles and mimicry added.

Song from Diaccia Botrona Marsh, Italy

Distribution and habitat

This small passerine bird is a species found almost exclusively in reed beds, usually with some bushes.

Behaviour and ecology

Food and feeding

Like most warblers, it is insectivorous, but will occasionally take plant material such as berries. [14]

Breeding

The males return to the breeding grounds two or three weeks before the females. [15] The species is usually monogamous. [16] The first eggs are laid at the end of April. The nest is usually placed in vegetation over water, especially in reeds of the genus Phragmites . The deep cylindrical cup nest is sited on average 65 cm (26 in)—range is between 20 and 140 cm (7.9 and 55.1 in)—above the surface of the water and is built entirely by the female. She takes four days to build the initial cup of grass, reed stems and leaves, and another three days to complete the lining of finer material including hair. The clutch contains three to five eggs that are laid daily. The eggs are very pale green with speckles and blotches of olive green or grey. On average they measure 18.4 mm × 13.6 mm (0.72 in × 0.54 in) and weigh 1.75 g (0.06 oz). They are incubated by both parents, beginning after the penultimate egg is laid. Only the female incubates at night. The eggs hatch after 9–12 days. The nestlings are fed and cared for by both parents. They fledge after 10–12 days but continue to be fed by their parents for another 10–14 days. Up to one third of pairs raise a second brood. [17]

The common reed warbler is one of the species that are brood parasitised by the common cuckoo. [18]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotted flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The spotted flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is declining in parts of its range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree pipit</span> Species of bird

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<i>Acrocephalus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

The Acrocephalus warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus Acrocephalus. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are sometimes called marsh warblers or reed warblers, but this invites confusion with marsh warbler and reed warbler proper, especially in North America, where it is common to use lower case for bird species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedge warbler</span> Species of bird

The sedge warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are migratory, crossing the Sahara to get from their European and Asian breeding grounds to spend winter in Africa. The male's song is composed of random chattering phrases and can include mimicry of other species. The sedge warbler is mostly insectivorous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsh warbler</span> Species of bird

The marsh warbler is an Old World warbler currently classified in the family Acrocephalidae. It breeds in temperate Europe and the western Palearctic and winters mainly in southeast Africa. It is notable for incorporating striking imitations of a wide variety of other birds into its song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blyth's reed warbler</span> Species of bird

Blyth's reed warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in the Palearctic and easternmost Europe. It is migratory, wintering in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. It is one of the most common winter warblers in those countries. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great reed warbler</span> Eurasian bird

The great reed warbler is a Eurasian in the passerine genus Acrocephalus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddyfield warbler</span> Species of bird

The paddyfield warbler is a species of marsh warbler. It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. The Manchurian reed warbler was included in A. agricola as a subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great spotted cuckoo</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Verde warbler</span> Species of bird

The Cape Verde warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is also known as the Cape Verde cane warbler or Cape Verde swamp warbler, and in Creole as tchota-de-cana or chincherote. It breeds on Santiago, Fogo, and São Nicolau in the Cape Verde Islands. It previously bred on Brava. This species is found in well-vegetated valleys, avoiding drier areas. It nests in reedbeds, two to three eggs being laid in a suspended nest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clamorous reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The clamorous reed warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds from Egypt eastwards through Pakistan, Afghanistan and northernmost India to south China and southeast Asia. A. s. meridionalis is an endemic race in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser swamp warbler</span> Species of bird

The lesser swamp warbler or Cape reed warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is a resident breeder in Africa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Chad and Ethiopia south to South Africa. This is a common species of reedbeds in standing water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acrocephalidae</span> Family of birds

The Acrocephalidae are a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda cuckoo</span> Species of bird

The Sunda cuckoo or Sunda lesser cuckoo is a South-east Asian bird belonging to the genus Cuculus in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. It was formerly classified with the Himalayan cuckoo and Oriental cuckoo in a single species, C. saturatus, but is now often regarded as a separate species based on differences in voice, size and plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nauru reed warbler</span> Passerine bird endemic to the Pacific island of Nauru

The Nauru reed warbler is a passerine bird endemic to the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two native breeding land-birds on Nauru and it is the only passerine found on the island. It is related to other Micronesian reed warblers, all of which evolved from one of several radiations of the genus across the Pacific. Related warblers on nearby islands include the Caroline reed warbler, with which the Nauru species was initially confused, and the nightingale reed warbler, which was formerly sometimes considered the same species.

John Sidney Ash was an English ornithologist. He had a strong interest in the avifauna from the Horn of Africa, in particular Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2019) [amended version of 2017 assessment]. "Acrocephalus scirpaceus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T22714722A155436305. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22714722A155436305.en . Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. Hermann, Johann (1804). Observationes zoologicae quibus novae complures, aliaeque animalium species describuntur et illustrantur (in Latin). Argentorati [Strasbourg]: Amandum Koenig. pp. 202–203.
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 62.
  4. 1 2 3 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Bushtits, leaf warblers, reed warblers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  30–31, 350. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Ash, J.S.; Pearson, D.J.; Nikolaus, G.; Colston, P.R. (1989). "The mangrove reed warblers of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts, with description of a new subspecies of the African Reed Warbler Acrocephalus baeticatus". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 109: 36–43.
  7. Babbington, J.; Boland, C.; Kirwan, G.M.; Alsuhaibany, A.; Shirihai, H.; Schweizer, M. (2019). "Confirmation of Acrocephalus scirpaceus avicenniae (Aves: Acrocephalidae) from mangroves on the Red Sea coast near Jazan, southwest Saudi Arabia". Zoology in the Middle East. 65 (3): 201–207. doi:10.1080/09397140.2019.1604470. S2CID   155777594.
  8. Hering, J.; Winkler, H.; Steinheimer, F.D. (2016). "A new subspecies of Eurasian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus in Egypt". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 136: 101–128.
  9. Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1817). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc (in French). Vol. 11 (Nouvelle édition ed.). Paris: Deterville. p. 195.
  10. For instance in Naumann, Johann Friedrich (1897). Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Vol. 2. OCLC   603365339(all editions).; see also: Commons-logo.svg image on Wikimedia Commons.
  11. Dyrcz, A.; Christie, D.A.; Garcia, E.F.J. (2020). Billerman, S.M.; Keeney, B.K.; Rodewald, P.G.; Schulenberg, T.S. (eds.). "Eurasian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), version 1.0" . Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.eurwar1.01. S2CID   241415727 . Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. Olsson, U.; Rguibi-Idrissi, H.; Copete, J.L.; Arroyo Matos, J.L.; Provost, P.; Amezian, M.; Alström, P.; Jiguet, F. (2016). "Mitochondrial phylogeny of the Eurasian/African reed warbler complex (Acrocephalus, Aves). Disagreement between morphological and molecular evidence and cryptic divergence: A case for resurrecting Calamoherpe ambigua Brehm 1857". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 102: 30–44. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.026. PMID   27233439.
  13. Cramp 1992, p. 193.
  14. Cramp 1992, pp. 198–201.
  15. Cramp 1992, p. 203.
  16. Cramp 1992, p. 201.
  17. Cramp 1992, pp. 208–209.
  18. Davies, N.B.; Brooke, M. De L. (1989). "An experimental study of co-evolution between the cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, and its hosts. I. Host egg discrimination". Journal of Animal Ecology. 58 (1): 207–224. doi:10.2307/4995. JSTOR   4995. S2CID   56303051.

Sources

Bibliography