Marsh Warbler
The Marsh Warbler is a medium-sized Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It has olive green-brown upperparts, yellowish-white underparts, a white throat, a pale stripe in front of the eye and pale legs
The Marsh Warbler is very similar in appearance to several other Acrocephalus warblers such as the Reed Warbler which also occurs in wetlands and has a similar breeding range. The male's distinctive song is useful for identification since no other member of the genus mimics other birds to any significant extent. The Marsh Warbler also tends to avoid large reedbeds which are the Reed Warbler's favoured habitat.
The Marsh Warbler breeds in the middle latitudes of Europe and west Asia from the English Channel to about 70 degrees east. It mainly occupies areas with a continental climate but breeds, or has bred, in the UK and northern France as well. In recent decades it has expanded its range to the north, with increasing numbers of birds breeding in Scandinavia and north west Russia.
In west Europe the Marsh Warbler breeds mainly in rank vegetation on damp or seasonally flooded soils and it is particularly attracted to tall herbaceous vegetation and to young osiers and other low woody plants. It may breed in urban brownfield sites with suitable vegetation and also occasionally in arable crops. In the east, it breeds on dry hillsides with shrubs and in open woodland as well as the kind of damper habitats it frequents in the west.
The Marsh Warbler is a summer migrant and winters mainly in south east Africa where it can be found in a range of well-vegetated habitats from moist scrub to dense thickets and woodland edge.
In the UK, the Marsh Warbler was never widespread and it disappeared from many areas from the 1930s onwards. By the 1970s, it bred in significant numbers only in Worcestershire where around 40 to 70 pairs were recorded each year during that decade. This population was effectively extinct by the end of the 1990s. From the 1970s and 1980s onwards, a very small population slowly developed in south east England, particularly in Kent. However, this population is also now close to extinction. The reasons for the population decline in the UK are not completely understood especially as there appears to be much suitable habitat. The Biodiversity Action Plan for the Marsh Warbler further comments that it is not clear what can be done to conserve the species apart from protecting habitat at known breeding sites and protecting birds from egg collectors and from disturbance.
The Marsh Warbler is best known for the highly imitative song given by males and very occasionally by females. Each male incorporates imitations of a wide range of other birds into its song. Other passerines are most commonly imitated but the calls of other species have been noted too. On average, each male bird incorporates imitations of 75 other species into its song with rather more African than northern species mimicked. Learning seems to take place in the summer the bird is hatched in Europe or Asia and in its first winter in Africa. The calls of birds heard in subsequent years are not added to the warbler's repertoire.
The Marsh Warbler is mostly insectivorous and generally takes insects from vegetation but sometimes catches them on the ground or in mid-air. In autumn small numbers of berries may be eaten.
Date: 3rd June 2018
Location: Sânpaul Fishponds, Harghita County, Romania
The Marsh Warbler is very similar in appearance to several other Acrocephalus warblers such as the Reed Warbler which also occurs in wetlands and has a similar breeding range. The male's distinctive song is useful for identification since no other member of the genus mimics other birds to any significant extent. The Marsh Warbler also tends to avoid large reedbeds which are the Reed Warbler's favoured habitat.
The Marsh Warbler breeds in the middle latitudes of Europe and west Asia from the English Channel to about 70 degrees east. It mainly occupies areas with a continental climate but breeds, or has bred, in the UK and northern France as well. In recent decades it has expanded its range to the north, with increasing numbers of birds breeding in Scandinavia and north west Russia.
In west Europe the Marsh Warbler breeds mainly in rank vegetation on damp or seasonally flooded soils and it is particularly attracted to tall herbaceous vegetation and to young osiers and other low woody plants. It may breed in urban brownfield sites with suitable vegetation and also occasionally in arable crops. In the east, it breeds on dry hillsides with shrubs and in open woodland as well as the kind of damper habitats it frequents in the west.
The Marsh Warbler is a summer migrant and winters mainly in south east Africa where it can be found in a range of well-vegetated habitats from moist scrub to dense thickets and woodland edge.
In the UK, the Marsh Warbler was never widespread and it disappeared from many areas from the 1930s onwards. By the 1970s, it bred in significant numbers only in Worcestershire where around 40 to 70 pairs were recorded each year during that decade. This population was effectively extinct by the end of the 1990s. From the 1970s and 1980s onwards, a very small population slowly developed in south east England, particularly in Kent. However, this population is also now close to extinction. The reasons for the population decline in the UK are not completely understood especially as there appears to be much suitable habitat. The Biodiversity Action Plan for the Marsh Warbler further comments that it is not clear what can be done to conserve the species apart from protecting habitat at known breeding sites and protecting birds from egg collectors and from disturbance.
The Marsh Warbler is best known for the highly imitative song given by males and very occasionally by females. Each male incorporates imitations of a wide range of other birds into its song. Other passerines are most commonly imitated but the calls of other species have been noted too. On average, each male bird incorporates imitations of 75 other species into its song with rather more African than northern species mimicked. Learning seems to take place in the summer the bird is hatched in Europe or Asia and in its first winter in Africa. The calls of birds heard in subsequent years are not added to the warbler's repertoire.
The Marsh Warbler is mostly insectivorous and generally takes insects from vegetation but sometimes catches them on the ground or in mid-air. In autumn small numbers of berries may be eaten.
Date: 3rd June 2018
Location: Sânpaul Fishponds, Harghita County, Romania
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Also in: Romania
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