# Common reed warbler (*Acrocephalus scirpaceus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-reed-warbler  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) is a bird in the family Acrocephalidae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup in the order Passeriformes. It is a small, migratory, perching bird of wetland habitats with an adult body mass of 12.3 g and a wingspan of 19 cm. It is an invertivore at the carnivore trophic level, and its clutches hold 3.9 eggs, incubated for 11.5 days, with 1.5 clutches per year. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 15,110,000 km².

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 11.8 g – 12.3 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 19 cm |
| Lifespan | 12.5 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 14 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 11.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3.9 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Acrocephalidae
- genus: Acrocephalus
- species: *Acrocephalus scirpaceus* (Hermann, 1804)

Synonyms: *Acrocephalus scirpaceus crassirostris*, *Acrocephalus scirpaceus strepera*, *Acrocephalus scirpeus*, *Acrocephalus streperus*, *Notiocichla scirpacea*, *Salicaria strepera*, *Sollicitus scirpaceus scirpaceus*, *Sylvia strepera*, *Turdus scirpaceus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common reed warbler?

The common reed warbler is a bird in the family Acrocephalidae, within the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup.

### How big is the common reed warbler?

It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 12.3 g and a wingspan of 19 cm.

### What does the common reed warbler eat?

It has an invertivore diet and sits at the carnivore trophic level.

### What habitat does the common reed warbler use?

It lives in wetland habitats, where it is a perching bird, and it is migratory.

### Is the common reed warbler endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common reed warbler live?

Its lifespan is given as 12.45 years, with values up to 14 years reported.

### How many eggs does the common reed warbler lay?

Its clutches hold 3.9 eggs, with 1.5 clutches per year and an incubation period of 11.5 days.

### Who named the common reed warbler?

Its scientific name, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, carries the authority (Hermann, 1804).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-reed-warbler