Aquatic Warbler
Acrocephalus paludicola
Small and slim with a thick, pale eyebrow, a dark crown with a pale central crown stripe, and a heavily striped back reminiscent of the patterning of a snipe. Often perches acrobatically, gripping two stems at once. Breeds in open wet marshlands with scattered bushes or trees, often in areas with sedges; uses reed beds on migration; winters in West Africa, where it uses extensive shallow marshes. Song is fast and chattering. Rare across much of range; population is declining fast due to habitat loss.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Acrocephalus paludicola
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Acrocephalidae
- Genus
- Acrocephalus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : c, e Europe
- Non-breeding range
- w, c AF
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
The aquatic warbler is the rarest and the only internationally threatened passerine bird found in mainland Europe. Apart from a very small remnant population in Western Siberia, its breeding grounds are completely confined to Europe.<p>The main threat the species is facing is the loss/degradation of habitat due to draining of wetlands, the decline of traditional, extensive agriculture and overgrowing of the species' habitat with reeds and bushes or trees. Under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning Conservation Measures for the Aquatic Warbler was concluded and came into effect on 30 April 2003. The MoU covers 22 range States (Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and United Kingdom). As of August 2012, 16 range States have signed the MoU. This instrument provides the basis for governments, NGO's and scientists to work together to save the species and their habitat.<p>Much of the funding for habitat protection for this species has come from the EU's LIFE programme.<p>The main method employed to protect the species from extinction is habitat restoration. Bushes, reeds and trees are cut down. An adequate level of water regulation is achieved through hydraulic equipment installation.<p>In order to protect the bird's offspring, farmers need to select optimal grassland mowing time (as late as 15 of August) and choose environment-friendly mowing technologies. As the late-cut grass isn't suitable for feeding making these measures economically unfavorable, farmers who agree to help out receive state issued compensations. The unusable late-cut grass is taken to processing plants that recycle it into biofuel/grass pellets. <p>Due to small and fragmented populations of aquatic warbler within Lithuania, translocation to the Žuvintas biosphere reserve in Lithuania became necessary as a method to reverse declining genetic diversity in the region.<p>During the species' first translocation In June 2018, the Lithuanian Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF) successfully translocated, raised, and released 49 aquatic warbler chicks from Zvanec Belarus to the Žuvintas biosphere reserve in Lithuania. By the end of the 2019 summer breeding season, 11 (22%) of the translocated birds returned to the Žuvintas biosphere reserve.<p>In the summer of 2019, the BEF successfully translocated, raised, and released an additional 50 birds from Zvanec Belarus to the Žuvintas biosphere reserve.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Masked Antpitta
Hylopezus auricularis
Medium-sized antpitta of floodplain forest, particularly with palmetto understory, along the confluence of the Ríos Madre de Dios and Bení in the Riberalta area. The only antpitta in range with dark chevrons on underparts or a blue-gray cap. Forages on or near the ground, but generally perches 1-2 m up in the understory or midstory to sing at dawn. Visually distinctive in range, but song deceptively similar to, and perhaps indistinguishable from, local songs of Amazonian Antshrike. Call a more distinctive three to four-part descending whistle.
Choco Toucan
Ramphastos brevis
Large black and yellow toucan with a yellow stripe on the top of the bill. Inhabits lowland and foothill rainforest west of the Andes. Similar to chestnut-mandibled races of Yellow-throated Toucan, but with black on the lower part of the bill. This can be hard to distinguish in poor light, so voice is often the best way to ID: it makes a rasping or croaking call instead of a yelp.
White-shouldered Antshrike
Thamnophilus aethiops
Shy antshrike found in understory of lowland and foothill rainforest. Male is dark gray or black; he also has small white dots on the shoulder and a white line at the bend of the wing, but these features are not always evident in the field. Female is plain brown; on the western edge of the range, she also has a black face, throat, and tail. Usually first detected by voice: song is a soft series of evenly spaced, nasal caws.
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