page_title: Nauru reed warbler
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Nauru reed warbler / Distribution and habitat
context_page_description: The Nauru reed warbler, Acrocephalus rehsei, is a passerine bird endemic to the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two native breeding land-birds on Nauru and it is the only passerine found on the island. It is related to other Micronesian reed warblers, all of which evolved from one of several radiations of the genus across the Pacific. Related warblers on nearby islands include the Carolinian reed warbler, with which the Nauru species was initially confused, and the nightingale reed warbler, which was formerly sometimes considered the same species.
  A medium-sized warbler, the Nauru reed warbler has dark brown upperparts, cream underparts and a long, thin beak. It makes a low, cup-shaped nest into which it lays two or three white eggs, and it feeds on insects. However, details about its behavior and ecology are little known. It is found throughout Nauru, which has changed substantially in recent decades due to phosphate mining. The Nauru reed warbler is potentially threatened by introduced predators and habitat loss, and its small range means that it could be vulnerable to chance occurrences, such as tropical cyclones.
context_section_description: The Nauru reed warbler is endemic to the island of Nauru, in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two indigenous land birds which breed on the island, the other being the Micronesian pigeon. The warbler can be found throughout the island, thriving in the scrubland in areas previously used for phosphate mining, as well as the remaining patches of forest on the island's central plateau. It is most common in the remains of forest found on the island's steep slopes. It is also readily observed in gardens and ruderal areas on the island's coast; in 1881, Finsch described the species as abundant, calling it "as common as the House-Sparrow in England." Biologist Donald Buden again found it widespread on the island in 2008.
  The species is sedentary, meaning that the birds do not naturally leave Nauru. Banaba is the nearest island, and despite being similar to Nauru, it lacks any warblers. However, it is possible that populations of the Nauru reed warbler existed on other islands until comparatively recently. On the Marshall Islands, traditional stories refer to a small bird, known variously as annañ, anang and annãng. This bird was considered the property of chieftains. Though no physical descriptions exist of the species, it has been described as butterfly-sized, pleasant-smelling and as living among rocks on the shores of north-western islands. Ethnographers Krämer and Nevermann reported that the bird became extinct or extirpated around 1880. Based on descriptions of birds seen on Jaluit, Paul Schnee hypothesised that the annañ may have been a Nauru reed warbler. The extinction of the annañ may have been due to hunting by cats, which were introduced to the Marshall Islands by the Russian Otto von Kotzebue in 1817 to hunt rats. They then multiplied before being spread by locals as pets, after which they started to become feral.
caption: Scrubland remaining after phosphate mining, an environment in which the Nauru reed warbler thrives
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