Acrocephalus melanopogon
Silhouette: Yves Hoebeke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Moustached Warbler sighting in Keoladeo National Park on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 199th most-seen of the 278 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Moustached Warbler in Keoladeo National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Keoladeo National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 240 mm in July.
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.
5th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Moustached Warbler sightings, Keoladeo National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary, about 10%), Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 10%) and Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 10%).
Same genus: Acrocephalus
The closest relatives of the Moustached Warbler that you can see in Keoladeo National Park (genus Acrocephalus, Reed Warblers) are Clamorous Reed Warbler (about 30%) and Blyth's Reed Warbler (about 30%), 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 Keoladeo National Park (41 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.
