Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Silhouette: Yves Hoebeke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) 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.
The sedge warbler was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla schoenobaenus. The species is now placed in the genus Acrocephalus that was introduced in 1811 by Johann Andreas Naumann and his son Johann Friedrich Naumann. British ornithologists did not distinguish the species from the common reed warbler until the 18th century. 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 schoenobaenus is from Ancient Greek skhoinos, "reed", and baino, "to tread". It is a translation of the old Swedish... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 4 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 5 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 6 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 11 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 12 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 13 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 14 | Gauja National Park | 🇱🇻 Latvia | |
| 15 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 16 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 18 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 19 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 20 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 2 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 3 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 4 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 5 | Minsk | 🇧🇾 Belarus | |
| 6 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Beirut | 🇱🇧 Lebanon | |
| 9 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | Antalya | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sedge Warbler sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 80 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 94th most-seen of the 140 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sedge Warbler in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sedge Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Sedge Warbler sightings, Cairngorms National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Biebrza National Park (Poland, about 50%), Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary, about 40%) and Białowieża National Park (Poland, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Sedge Warbler that you can see in Cairngorms National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Chaffinch (about 80%), European Robin (about 70%) and Coal Tit (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sedge Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Cairngorms National Park (80 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
