Acrocephalus scirpaceus
Silhouette: Roger Culos · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The common reed warbler or Eurasian reed-warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds across Europe into the temperate western Palaearctic where it is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also a resident species over large parts of Africa.
The common reed warbler was formally described in 1804 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann under the binomial name Turdus scirpaceus. The type locality is Alsace. The common 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. The genus name Acrocephalus is from Ancient Greek akros, "highest", and kephalē, "head". It is possible that the Naumanns thought akro- meant "sharp-pointed," as in ἄκρα (akra, 'end, point'). The specific scirpaceus is from Latin and means "belonging to the bulrushes" (scirpus).
Ten subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 2 | Antalya | 🇹🇷 Turkey | |
| 3 | Sincan | 🇹🇷 Turkey | |
| 4 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 5 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 6 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Rabat | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 8 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 10 | Tunis | 🇹🇳 Tunisia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Reed-Warbler sighting in London on a given day, based on 3,338 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 61st most-seen of the 203 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to July
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Reed-Warbler in London on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eurasian Reed-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.
8th of 64
Of the 64 cities where we can rate Eurasian Reed-Warbler sightings, London ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Jerusalem (Israel, about 40%), Antalya (Turkey, about 20%) and Sincan (Turkey, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eurasian Reed-Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in London (3,338 verified sightings), 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.
