Appearance:

Plain and characterless warbler with secretive behaviour. Larger than Sedge Warbler, with larger wings, broader tail and tail-base. Very similar to Marsh Warbler, and very hard to distinguish by plumage alone. Rump of Reed warbler warm rufous brown, warm buff flanks (yellowish tinge in Marsh Warbler), and slightly longer and more pointed bill. Differs from Blyth's Reed Warbler by longer primary projection, yellowish lower mandible and paler legs. Juveniles especially hard to identify, because of even fainter plumage field marks. Attached to reed beds.

Sound:

By far easiest to identify by song: Characteristic, almost metric and even rhythm, very different from Sedge Warbler. Squeaky timbre with many, almost bizarre, harmonics. Phrases generally repeated 2-3 times. Alarm call a harsh, dry and rolling "kraaaat".

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Olive green upperparts, yellowish chest with gradual transition to off-white belly. Very similar to Chiff-chaff, and most field characters are subtle and often hard to see. Distinguished by (usually) pale, yellow-brown legs, dark framing to ear-coverts, stronger supercilium. Long primary projection (often 3/4ths the length of tertials) with irregularly spaced tips (visible when wing folded). Wings slightly more pointed than in Chiff-chaff, and not so fan-shaped. Juveniles often with whole underparts yellow. Frequently flicks tail, but not sideways (unlike Chiff-chaff). Generally also more calm when moving among the foliage.

Sound:

By far most easily identified by it's call or song. Contact/alarm call a soft, plaintive ascending "hoo-eet". Similar to Chiff-chaff, but first part more drawn, giving it a disyllabic feel. Song: A 3-5 second, falling phrase of soft, rippling "svi-svi" sounds, starting high with some attack, and then falling in a mellow manner. The phrase lacks any conclusion, and diminishes both in strength and tempo.

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC