Sedge warbler

    Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Castilian: Carricerín común

Catalan: Boscarla dels joncs

Gallego: Folosa dos xuncos

Euskera: Benarriz arrunta

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Sylviidae

Migratory status: Passage migrant

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

Although it neither breeds nor winters here, it is quite common during migratory season, and for this reason it is affected by the disappearance of wetlands which has eliminated the place that it uses to rest.

Length / size: 13 cm / 17-21 cm

Identification: Small bird with cryptic plumage that is usually ochre-coloured. Its back is olive greenish-brown and lightly striped, its rump is yellowish-brown, its crown dark and striped and its forehead pale. The adult's breast is a solid colour, while the juvenile's is mottled.

Song: It is an accelerated, long and fast sequence that alternates between trills, whistles, and, sometimes, imitations of other river birds.

Diet: It especially feeds on insects such as aphids, dragonflies, grasshoppers, etc., and occasionally on fruits, seeds, flowers and pollen.

Reproduction: It is known that it previously, it used to nest in Cantabrian coastal wetlands, in reedbeds, and willow trees. It builds a deep cup-shaped nest using grass, stalks, and leaves and covers it with spider webs, hair, pappus and inflorescence of river plants. The nest is positioned in the vegetation, fixed to the stalks of river plants, and the female incubates the eggs.

HABITAT

It occupies wet areas and riverside environments with river vegetation formations, such as reed beds, and riparian formations, such as willow plantations, and even irrigated farmland where rice, alfalfa, etc. is grown.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It does not currently breed in Spain, although it is not impossible to find occasional breeders in coastal areas in the north of the peninsula.

In Castile and León: During migration, it appears throughout all the provinces.

Movements and migrations: It is a trans-Saharan migratory species that winters in sub-Saharan Africa. It is only observed in the peninsula during the prenuptial passage, from late February to early May, and the postnuptial passage, from late July to early November.

POPULATION

In Spain: Large numbers of migrant specimens can be observed, since the Iberian Peninsula is an important migratory passageway for populations coming from central and northern Europe.

In Castile and León: