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ID Please - Warbler, Malaga, Spain. June 2024 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Cormac
- Start date
TheBlackGrouse
Well-known member
It's singing, can you remember anything? For instance the song of a Reed Warbler has long phrases (30 seconds or more) which are rhythmic and repetitive. Marsh Warblers have a varied song, with lots of imitations, with short stops.
These two species look almost the same. There are very small differences, none of them is decisive, about 10 of them have to point in the same direction. When they sing it's easy.
These two species look almost the same. There are very small differences, none of them is decisive, about 10 of them have to point in the same direction. When they sing it's easy.
Marsh Warbler would be extremely unlikely at Málaga
TheBlackGrouse
Well-known member
Good point!
But you never know with (singing) migrants so it helps if the OP heard something.
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
What are the odds of it being African Reed? Not entirely sure where they can be expected, or if they are separable in the field (or for that matter what they are even considered to be taxonomically these days).
TheBlackGrouse
Well-known member
Good one, has a different song, like a derailing Reed Warbler with a hint of Marsh Warbler.
Ibis 2022, Frederic Jiguet and others: ''The Iberian and North African populations of reed warblers have been described recently as a separate taxon, ambiguus, forming a sister clade to the Sahelian subspecies minor of African Reed Warbler Acrocephalus baeticatus.''
Just for fun: ''Compared with their European counterparts, Acrocephalus reed warblers breeding in Iberia and North Africa display distinct biometrics and plumage characteristics (Hering et al., 2010, Jiguet et al.2010) and are genetically closer to the African Reed Warblers Acrocephalus baeticatus (Hering et al.2009), forming a sister clade to all sub-Saharan populations breeding across the Sahel (subspecies minor, Olsson et al.2016). They have been recognized as a distinct subspecies, Acrocephalus baeticatus ambiguus (Olsson et al.2016). With a breeding distribution ranging from Iberia and western Morocco to coastal Libya (Hering et al.2009,2010, Olsson et al.2016), closely matching the African distribution of the Barbary Partridge, we propose to name this taxon the Barbary Reed Warbler.''
And, as a result: ''... any reed warbler ringed in Iberia in May, June or July might be either a local breeding ambiguus or a late/early migrant scirpaceus''
And we think it's difficult to identify Reed and Marsh Warblers
Maybe others have more information.
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