Acrocephalus (bird)

Acrocephalus (bird)
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. 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. 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 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 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, 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, 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, Acrocephalus percernis
Tahiti reed warbler, Acrocephalus caffer
† Moorea reed warbler, Acrocephalus longirostris
† Garrett's reed warbler, Acrocephalus musae
Southern Marquesan reed warbler, 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, Acrocephalus bistrigiceps
Moustached warbler, Acrocephalus melanopogon
Aquatic warbler, Acrocephalus paludicola
Sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Speckled reed warbler, Acrocephalus sorghophilus
Blunt-winged warbler, Acrocephalus concinens
Manchurian reed warbler, Acrocephalus tangorum (sometimes included in A. agricola)
Large-billed reed warbler, Acrocephalus orinus
Paddyfield warbler, Acrocephalus agricola
Blyth's reed warbler, Acrocephalus dumetorum
Common reed warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus
Marsh warbler, Acrocephalus palustris
Fragmentary fossil remains from the Late Miocene (about 11 mya) of Rudabánya (NE Hungary) show some apomorphies typical of this genus. Given its rather early age (most Passerida 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
Further reading
External links
Acrocephalus videos on the Internet Bird Collection
Bird genera
Taxa named by Johann Andreas Naumann
Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Naumann