Other Names (World)
Australasian Reed-Warbler, Australian Reed-Warbler, Australian Great Reed-warbler, Clamorous Reed-warbler(!), Reed Warbler, Long-billed Reed-warbler, Southern Reed-warbler, Western Reed-warbler, Southern Great Reed-warbler, Western Great Reed-warbler, Reed-lark, Reed-bird, Swamp Tit, Water Sparrow, Nightingale, Australian Reed Warbler
Common. Migratory, moving south into the south-east and south-west of its range during August or September and departing in March or April. Some remain through winter, but are quiet and often go unnoticed.
Habitat
Wetlands, including reedbeds and other dense vegatation near water.
Australian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus australis) [XC683552]
by Toby Esplin from Lake Monger, Town of Cambridge, Western Australia, Australia (song)
Australian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus australis) [XC513391]
by Nigel Jackett from Kona Lakeside Caravan Park (near Kununurra), Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia (song)
Nest
Deep, cup-shaped, composed of soft paper-like sheaths of reeds and dead aquatic plants, firmly woven around the stems of reeds, lined with fine dried grasses.
Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4; faint blue to pale buff, freckled and spotted with browns and lavender; long-oval; about 20 x 14 mm. Incubation: 14 - 15 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 14 - 16 days.
Subspecies
Acrocephalus stentoreus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Clamorous Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus) and Large-billed Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus orinus) following Bensch and Pearson (2002). Australian Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus australis), a cross-regional species, is retained as a separate species contra Christidis and Boles (1994) who include australis as a subspecies of Clamorous Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus).
australis (Gould, 1838) - Eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania.
sumbae Hartert, 1924 - Southern Moluccas (Buru) and central and eastern Lesser Sundas (Sumba, Timor) to New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Clamorous Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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