The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler family

Acrocephalidae The Acrocephalidae (the reed warblers, marsh- and tree-warblers, or acrocephalid warblers) are a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea. The species in this family are usually rather large "warblers". Most are rather p ...

. They are sometimes called marsh warblers or reed warblers, but this invites confusion with marsh warbler and reed warbler proper, especially in North America, where it is common to use lower case for bird species. These are rather drab brownish warblers usually associated with marshes or other wetlands. Some are streaked, others plain. Many species breeding in temperate regions are migratory. This genus has heavily diversified into many species throughout islands across the tropical

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. This in turn has led to many of the resulting insular endemic species to become endangered. Several of these species (including all but one of the species endemic to the Marianas and two endemic to French Polynesia) have already gone extinct. The most enigmatic species of the genus, the large-billed reed warbler (''A. orinus''), was rediscovered in Thailand in March, 2006; it was found also in a remote corner of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in the summer of 2009. Prior to these recent sightings, it had been found only once before, in 1867. Many species have a flat head profile, which gives rise to the group's scientific name. The genus name ''Acrocephalus'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''akros'', "highest", and ''kephale'', "head". It is possible that Naumann and Naumann thought ''akros'' meant "sharp-pointed".

List of species in taxonomic order

The genus contains 42 species of which 6 insular forms are now extinct: * Basra reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus griseldis'' *

Cape Verde warbler The Cape Verde warbler (''Acrocephalus brevipennis'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It is also known as the Cape Verde cane warbler or Cape Verde swamp warbler, and in Creole as ''tchota-de-cana'' or ''chincherote'' (als ...

, ''Acrocephalus brevipennis'' * Greater swamp warbler, ''Acrocephalus rufescens'' * Lesser swamp warbler, ''Acrocephalus gracilirostris'' * Madagascar swamp warbler, ''Acrocephalus newtoni'' * Seychelles warbler, ''Acrocephalus sechellensis'' * Rodrigues warbler, ''Acrocephalus rodericanus'' *

Great reed warbler The great reed warbler (''Acrocephalus arundinaceus'') is a Eurasian passerine in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. The genus name ''Acrocephalus'' is from Ancient Greek ''akros'', "highest", and ''kephale'', "head". It is possible that Naumann and ...

, ''Acrocephalus arundinaceus'' * Oriental reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus orientalis'' * Clamorous reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus stentoreus'' * Australian reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus australis'' * Millerbird, ''Acrocephalus familiaris'' *† Nightingale reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus luscinius'' * Saipan reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus hiwae'' *† Aguiguan reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus nijoi'' *† Pagan reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus yamashinae'' *† Mangareva reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus astrolabii'' * Nauru reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus rehsei'' * Caroline reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus syrinx'' * Bokikokiko, ''Acrocephalus aequinoctialis'' *

Northern Marquesan reed warbler The northern Marquesan reed warbler (''Acrocephalus percernis'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It was formerly considered conspecific with the southern Marquesan reed warbler, and together known as the Marques ...

, ''Acrocephalus percernis'' *

Tahiti reed warbler The Tahiti reed warbler (''Acrocephalus caffer'') is a songbird in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It used to be placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage (Sylviidae), but is now in the newly recognized marsh warbler family Acrocephalidae. It is ...

, ''Acrocephalus caffer'' *† Moorea reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus longirostris'' *† Garrett's reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus musae'' *

Southern Marquesan reed warbler The southern Marquesan reed warbler (''Acrocephalus mendanae'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It was formerly considered conspecific with the northern Marquesan reed warbler, and together known as the Marquesan ...

, ''Acrocephalus mendanae'' * Tuamotu reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus atyphus'' * Cook reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus kerearako'' * Rimatara reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus rimatarae'' * Henderson reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus taiti'' * Pitcairn reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus vaughani'' *

Black-browed reed warbler The black-browed reed warbler (''Acrocephalus bistrigiceps'') is a marsh-warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1860. It breed ...

, ''Acrocephalus bistrigiceps'' *

Moustached warbler The moustached warbler (''Acrocephalus melanopogon'') is an Old World warbler Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the ...

, ''Acrocephalus melanopogon'' * Aquatic warbler, ''Acrocephalus paludicola'' *

Sedge warbler 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 ...

, ''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'' * Speckled reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus sorghophilus'' *

Blunt-winged warbler The blunt-winged warbler (''Acrocephalus concinens'') is a marsh-warbler (family Acrocephalidae). The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1870. It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Afghanis ...

, ''Acrocephalus concinens'' *

Manchurian reed warbler The Manchurian reed warbler (''Acrocephalus tangorum''), also known as the Manchurian reed-warbler, is a species of marsh-warbler (family Acrocephalidae). It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, and was usually (and someti ...

, ''Acrocephalus tangorum'' (sometimes included in ''A. agricola'') * Large-billed reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus orinus'' *

Paddyfield warbler The paddyfield warbler (''Acrocephalus agricola'') is a species of marsh warbler (family Acrocephalidae). It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. The Manchurian reed warbler (''A. tangorum'') was (and sometimes still is ...

, ''Acrocephalus agricola'' *

Blyth's reed warbler __NOTOC__ Blyth's reed warbler (''Acrocephalus dumetorum'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It breeds in the Palearctic and easternmost Europe. It is migratory, wintering in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. It is one of th ...

, ''Acrocephalus dumetorum'' * Common reed warbler, ''Acrocephalus scirpaceus'' * Marsh warbler, ''Acrocephalus palustris'' Fragmentary

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains from the Late Miocene (about 11 mya) of Rudabánya (NE

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

) show some apomorphies typical of this genus. Given its rather early age (most

Passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorde ...

genera are not known until the Pliocene), it is not too certain that it is correctly placed here, but it is highly likely to belong to the Acrocephalidae at the least.

References

External links

Acrocephalus videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q637716 Bird genera Taxa named by Johann Andreas Naumann Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Naumann

List of species in taxonomic order

References

Further reading

External links