Page 327 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WARBLERS AND ALLIES
Order Passeriformes Family Sylviidae Species Acrocephalus palustris
Marsh Warbler thin whitish

eye-ring
pale bill with
dark ridge
unmarked back
(with greyish wash
in spring) yellowish white
underside
pale olive-brown
upperparts (warmer
squarish, brown on juvenile)
dark grey-
brown tail long dark wing
feathers, with
ADULT sharp pale edges
IN FLIGHT
rump faintly
warmer brown long
wingtips
pale legs
ADULT
n unstreaked Acrocephalus warbler, the Marsh Warbler is a bird of
A wet riversides and boggy places with an abundance of rich,
thick vegetation; it is not usually a reedbed species. Migrants occur ADULT
rarely, near the coast, and require patience and close observation for
positive identification. Unless the full song is heard, this is a tricky
species. Its habitat is always restricted and often rather temporary in
nature, so it remains a rare and somewhat erratic breeding bird – one FLIGHT: low, short, flitting flights with whirring
of the last of the summer migrants to arrive in summer. wingbeats; jerky, bounding action.
VOICE Call short, hard chek or chk;
song full of remarkable mimicry
(of African as well as European
birds), fluent, fast, with twangy, nasal,
whistling notes, trills and slower,
lower intervals or pauses.
NESTING Quite shallow cup of
grass, suspended from tall stems in
thick vegetation by “basket handles”;
4 or 5 eggs; 1 brood; June–July.
FEEDING Forages in and under SUPERB SONGSTER
thick plant cover for insects and Marsh Warblers usually sing from bushes, nettles, and
spiders; also takes some berries. other tall, rank vegetation. OCCURRENCE
Local summer bird, from extreme
SIMILAR SPECIES SE England (where it is rare) across
C, SE, and E Europe, and extreme
REED WARBLER SEDGE WARBER mottled S Scandinavia. Prefers thick
see p.324 slightly see p.322 undertail
warmer coverts wetland vegetation, with or
brown obvious without a mixture of reeds among
stripe sedges, willowherb, nettles, and
over eye
umbellifers. Rare migrant on coasts
and islands from May to September.
SAVI’S WARBLER Seen in the UK
see p.329 J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 13–15cm (5–6in) Wingspan 18–21cm (7–8 1 ⁄2in) Weight 11–15g ( 3 ⁄8 – 9 ⁄16oz)
Social Solitary Lifespan Up to 5 years Status Secure
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