Cambodia, China (mainland) (B), Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Japan (B), Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia (B), Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea (B), Russia (Asian) (B), Singapore, South Korea (B), Taiwan (China), Thailand, Vietnam.
Breeds south-eastern Russia (south-eastern Siberia, Amur Valley, Ussuriland), north-eastern and eastern China, Korean Peninsula, Sakhalin I and Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu); non-breeding north-eastern India east to southern and south-eastern China, south to Malay Peninsula, rarely northern Sumatra.
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Voice
A harsh, churring 'kurr'., a hard 'jat jat' and a low 'trruk'. Song is a prolonged jumble of notes, interspersed with dry rattles, harsh trills and mimicry.
Black-browed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps) [XC643054]
by Peter Ericsson from Bangkok, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Thailand (song)
Black-browed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps) [XC114219]
by Frank Lambert from Fujin Hei Yupao National Wetlands Park, Heilongjiang, China (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Recent genetic study suggests that Black-browed Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps), Moustached Warbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon), Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola) and Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) form a monophyletic clade, the "striped reed-warbler group", in which traditionally Streaked Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus sorghophilus) is also included. Was in the past sometimes treated as conspecific with White-browed Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus tangorum), but recent DNA studies indicate genetic difference between the two in excess of 9.5%, and morphological studies support treatment as separate species.