Acrocephalus melanopogon
Silhouette: Yves Hoebeke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The moustached warbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon) is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in southern Europe and southern temperate Asia with a few breeding in north-west Africa. It is partially migratory. South-west European birds are resident, south-east European birds winter in the Mediterranean breeding range, and the Asiatic race migrates to Arabia, India and Pakistan.
The moustached warbler was formally described and illustrated in 1823 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck based on a specimen collected near Rome in Italy. He coined the binomial name Sylvia melanopogon. The moustached warbler is now one of 42 warblers placed in the genus Acrocephalus that was introduced in 1811 by the German naturalist Johann Andreas Naumann and his son Johann Friedrich Naumann. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ακρος/akros meaning "point" or "crest" with -κεφαλος/-kephalos meaning "-headed". The specific epithet melanopogon combines the Ancient Greek μελας/melas, μελανος/melanos meaning "black" with πωγων/pōgōn, πωγωνος/pōgōnos meaning "beard".
Three subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Moustached Warbler sighting in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, based on 40 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 136th most-seen of the 202 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Moustached Warbler in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Moustached Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Moustached Warbler sightings, Hortobágy National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary, about 10%).
Same genus: Acrocephalus
The closest relatives of the Moustached Warbler that you can see in Hortobágy National Park (genus Acrocephalus, Reed Warblers) are Eurasian Reed-Warbler (about 40%), Sedge Warbler (about 40%) and Great Reed-Warbler (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Moustached Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Hortobágy National Park (40 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.
