Appearance:

Small and restless species easily confused with Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, but showing both plumage and structural differences. Plumage differs from A. schoenobaenus in; broad, white supercilium ending without narrowing, dark crown (usually appears black), pure white throat, grey ear-coverts, dark legs and warm-rufous flanks, rump and neck. Facial markings recalling firecrest. Very short primary projection and longer, more evenly rounded tail recalling Wren when raised. Bill thinner than A. schoenobaenus. Skulky behaviour, forages low in vegetation, on ground or near water surface. Some variation in both size and plumage between western and eastern subspecies.

Sound:

Contact call a dry "trrrt", similar to corresponding call of Sedge Warbler. Song most resembling that of Reed Warbler (A, scirpaceus), but often includes diagnostic (unique among congeners), pure-sounding note sequence resembling crescendo of Common Nightingale (L. megarhynchos), before launching into typical Acrocephalus sounding song. This latter type can be sustained for some time without the diagnostic sequence and is more difficult to distinguish from A. scirpaceus. Note faster tempo and more variation.

Diagnostic song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

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

CC-photo:Radovan Václav, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Lars Buckx, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:ferran pestaña, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Adult breeding birds unmistakable. White mask, warm rufous brown throat and underparts. Bill noticeably heavier than in Red-necked Phalarope in all plumages and and ages. Female more brightly coloured than male (reversed dimorphism). 1st winter birds differs from Red-necked in white fore-crown, while fresh juveniles have less contrasting markings on back. Both mentioned characters are often difficult, or impossible to use at a distance. With experience and practise, one can use the powerful flight and more stocky build as field marks.

Sound:

Flight-call a short and sharp, Coot-like "kit". Cleaner and higher pitched than Red-necked Phalarope. Display sound a rolling cooing, at stable pitch. Other calls: a hissing like the squeezing of a rubber duck, rising quickly in pitch and ending abruptly.

Contact calls:

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

CC

CC-sounds,www.xeno-canto.org,Frank Lambert,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/