Species › Birds

Sedge Warbler

Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acrocephalidae
Presence in the Strait: Migrant
Abundance: common
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Carricerín común

31% of its open observations in the area are from March.

Photograph: Billy Lindblom, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 13 cm
Weight: 12 g

Presence in the Strait

Common migrant.

Identification

Olive-brown upperparts with indistinct dark streaks, pale below with a tawny rump. Buff-white supercilium and dark eye stripe. Juveniles can have a pale central crown-stripe (see Aquatic Warbler), dark lateral crown stripe and spotted necklace.

Movements

On migration, choose different routes for the prenuptial and postnuptial periods, using the Eastern and Western areas respectively. In the Strait can be seen on both passages, being regular on prenuptial migration with peaks in 2nd hf. April, and occasional on postnuptial migration from the middle of July to November.

Ring recoveries

United Kingdom (3) and Sweden (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

31 %

Peak in March. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 12 April 1981
Latest record: 17 October 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NE · Not evaluated · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Where they come from

4 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

United Kingdom3
Sweden1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Moustached Warbler13–13 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Aquatic Warbler13–13 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Eurasian Reed Warbler12.5–12.5 cm · Seasonal
Great Reed Warbler19–19 cm · Seasonal
Blyth’s Reed Warbler12.5–12.5 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acrocephalidae
GBIF taxon key: 2493129

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Billy Lindblom, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Sedge Warbler

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery