Biology:Eurasian reed warbler

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Short description: Species of bird

Eurasian reed warbler
Acrocephalus scirpaceus Vlaskop cropped.jpg
File:Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) (W1CDR0001533 BD12).ogg
Song recorded in Surrey, England
Scientific classification edit
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

Eurasian reed warbler distribution map.svg
Distribution
  Breeding range
  Resident year-round
  Non-breeding range

The Eurasian reed warbler, or just reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds across Europe into the temperate western Palaearctic. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.

Taxonomy

The Eurasian reed warbler was formally described in 1804 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann under the binomial name Turdus scirpaceus.[1] The type locality is Alsace.[2] The Eurasian 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.[3] 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".[4]

Four subspecies are recognised:[3]

  • A. s. scirpaceus (Hermann, 1804) – breeds in Europe to west Russia, Ukraine and west Turkey, northwest Africa, winters in west, central Africa
  • A. s. fuscus (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) – breeds in north Egypt and central Turkey through the Middle East to southeast European Russia, north Iran, Kazakhstan and northwest China, winters in east, south Africa
  • A. s. avicenniae Ash, Pearson, DJ, Nikolaus & Colston, 1989 – coasts of the Red Sea[5][6]
  • A. s. ammon Hering, Winkler & Steinheimer, 2016 – Oases along the Libya-Egypt border region[7]

Some authorities treat the African reed warbler (Acrocephalus baeticatus) as a subspecies of the Eurasian reed warbler.[8][9]

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

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).[11] 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 Eurasian 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. File:Acrocephalus scirpaceus 1.ogg

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.[12]

Breeding

View of nest with clutch

The males return to the breeding grounds two or three weeks before the females.[13] The species is usually monogamous.[14] 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 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 between three and 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 (0.062 oz). They are incubation by both parents begins 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 day but continue to be fed by their parents for another 10–14 days. Up to one third of pairs raise a second brood.[15]

The Eurasian reed warbler is one of the species that are brood parasitised by the common cuckoo.[16]

  • Placement of nest

  • Common cuckoo chick fed by reed warbler adult

  • Reed warbler eggs

  • Cuculus canorus canorus in a spawn of Acrocephalus scirpaceus - MHNT

References

  1. ↑ Hermann, Johann (1804) (in Latin). Observationes zoologicae quibus novae complures, aliaeque animalium species describuntur et illustrantur. Argentorati [Strasbourg]: Amandum Koenig. pp. 202-203. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50170591. 
  2. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 62. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483763. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds (January 2022). "Bushtits, leaf warblers, reed warblers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/bushtits/. 
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 30–31, 350. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. 
  5. ↑ 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. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40026865. 
  6. ↑ 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. 
  7. ↑ 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. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56175737. 
  8. ↑ The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. 2014. p. 473. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2. 
  9. ↑ 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. 
  10. ↑ For instance in Naumann, Johann Friedrich (1897). Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas. 2. OCLC 603365339 (all editions). https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35158671. ; see also: 12 px Commons logo image on Wikimedia Commons.
  11. ↑ Cramp 1992, p. 193.
  12. ↑ Cramp 1992, pp. 198–201.
  13. ↑ Cramp 1992, p. 203.
  14. ↑ Cramp 1992, p. 201.
  15. ↑ Cramp 1992, pp. 208–209.
  16. ↑ 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. 

Sources

  • Cramp, Stanley, ed (1992). "Acrocephalus scirpaceus Reed Warbler". Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. VI: Warblers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 193-212. ISBN 978-0-19-857509-2. 

External links

Bibliography

  • Kishkinev, D., Chernetsov, N., Pakhomov, A., Heyers, D., and Mouritsen, H. (2015). Eurasian reed warblers compensate for virtual magnetic displacement. Curr. Biol. 25, R822–R824

Wikidata ☰ Q159080 entry




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