Page 324 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WARBLERS AND ALLIES
Order Passeriformes Family Sylviidae Species Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Sedge Warbler

wide silver-white
blackish and stripe over eye
cream streaks
unstreaked, on cap
tawny- dark line from
buff bill through eye
rump

ADULT
buff across
chest (finely
streaked on
IN FLIGHT juvenile)
and flanks
ADULT
whitish
soft greyish underside
streaks on
tawny back
his is one of the Acrocephalus
Twarblers, birds of wetlands, especially
reedbeds, that fall into two groups, ADULT
streaked and unstreaked.A small, well-
marked, active bird with a loud, fast,
varied song, the Sedge Warbler is quite
common and widespread but restricted
largely to waterside or boggy habitats. It is not FLIGHT: short, flitting flights, quite jerky; tail
exclusively a reedbed warbler, preferring more sometimes fanned.
variety, such as various sedges, nettles, willow, VIGOROUS SONGSTER
hawthorn scrub, willowherb, and umbellifers A singing bird frequently climbs to
intermixed, so sometimes it may be found in the top of a bush or reed stem.
hedges beside wet ditches or even drier places
with thick, vertical stem growth. It appears as
a migrant mostly in similar habitats.
VOICE Call dry, rasping tchrrrr, sharper tek; song
loud, fast, varied, excitable mix of whistles,
warbles, clicks, and trills with much mimicry.
NESTING Deep nest of grass mixed with moss,
cobwebs, and plant down; 5 or 6 eggs; 1 or 2
broods;April–July.
FEEDING Forages in reeds, sedges, nettles, and
bushes, for small insects, spiders, and some seeds. OCCURRENCE
Widespread as breeder except in
SIMILAR SPECIES Iceland. In reeds, from narrow
ditches to extensive reedbeds,
MOUSTACHED WARBLER REED WARBLER AQUATIC WARBLER and associated wetland vegetation
resident; see p.323 see p.324 no stripe see p.443 such as sedges and reedmace;
blacker over eye pale central more rarely in nettles, willowherb,
crown crown stripe
and other rank growth, often
bolder with thorn bushes, from April
stripes
to October.
plain
shorter back Seen in the UK
wingtips J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 13cm (5in) Wingspan 17–21cm (6 1 ⁄2 –8 1 ⁄2in) Weight 10–13g ( 3 ⁄8 – 7 ⁄16oz)
Social Solitary Lifespan Up to 5 years Status Secure†
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