Great reed warbler
Acrocephalus arundinaceus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) is a bird in the family Acrocephalidae and order Passeriformes, placed with the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 30 g, and its habitat is wetland.
Quick facts about the great reed warbler
It is an invertivore, a carnivore by trophic level, with a perching lifestyle. Clutch size is 4.2 eggs, with 1.5 clutches per year and an egg incubation period of 14.5 days.
- Weight
- 29 g – 31.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 10 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 10.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 14.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the great reed warbler
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the great reed warbler live?
Not recorded
What is the great reed warbler?
The great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) is an insectivorous bird in the family Acrocephalidae. It is a medium-sized passerine bird and the largest of the warblers. It breeds throughout mainland Europe and the Western Palearctic and migrates to sub-Saharan Africa in the winter. It favours reed beds during the breeding season, while living in reed beds, bush thickets, rice fields, and forest clearings during the winter. It exhibits relatively low sexual dimorphism, and the sexes are similar in appearance. This species mates both polygynously and monogamously.
From the Wikipedia article “Great reed warbler” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_reed_warbler&oldid=1367138656), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the great reed warbler sound like?
Is the great reed warbler endangered?
The great reed warbler is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the great reed warbler classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyAcrocephalidae
- genusAcrocephalus
- SpeciesAcrocephalus arundinaceus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Acrocephalus arabicus, Acrocephalus arundinacea, Acrocephalus lacustris, Acrocephalus turdoides, Arundinaceus turdoides, Calamodyta arundinacea, Calamoherpe arbustorum, Calamoherpe arundinacea, Calamoherpe caffra, Calamoherpe lacustris, Calamoherpe longirostris, Calamoherpe major, Calamoherpe media, Calamoherpe stagnatilis, Calamoherpe turdoides, Muscipeta lacustris, Salicaria turdina, Salicaria turdoides, Sylvia turdoides, Turdus arundinaceus, Turdus junco
Other names and names in other languages (76)
- Great reed-warblerEnglish
- GrootrietsangerAfrikaans
- هازجة الغاب الكبيرةArabic
- هازجة القصب الكبيرةArabic
- Carrasclís granAragonese
- carricera realAsturian
- Туғай турғайыBashkir
- Драздовая чаротаўкаBelarusian
- Тръстиково шаварчеBulgarian
- Rouzig karekitBreton
- Rouzegan karekitBreton
- balquerCatalan
- Пысӑк хӑмӑш кайӑкӗChuvash
- rákosník velkýCzech
- telor cyrs mawrWelsh
- Telor Mawr y CyrsWelsh
- Telorion Mawr y CyrsWelsh
- DrosselrørsangerDanish
- DrosselrohrsängerGerman
- ΤσιχλοποταμίδαGreek
- Turda kanbirdoEsperanto
- granda kanbirdoEsperanto
- Carricero tordalSpanish
- rästas-roolindEstonian
- Lezkari karratxinBasque
- سسک نیزار بزرگPersian
- rastaskerttunenFinnish
- TrastljómariFaroese
- Rousserolle turdoïdeFrench
- Rossignol des rivièresFrench
- Ceolaire giolcaí mórIrish
- Mórcheolaire giolcaíIrish
- Folosa grandeGalician
- Guilckag vooarManx
- Veliki trstenjak / Велики трстењакSerbian (Latin)
- קנית אירופיתHebrew
- nádirigóHungarian
- Եղեգնաթռչնակ կեռնեխանմանArmenian
- ReyrsöngvariIcelandic
- CannareccioneItalian
- オオヨシキリJapanese
- ニシオオヨシキリJapanese
- КъамылбзуKabardian
- Шырылдауық айқабақKazakh
- 개개비Korean
- 유럽개개비Korean
- Grousse JäizertLuxembourgish
- didžioji krakšlėLithuanian
- niedru strazdsLatvian
- обичен трскарMacedonian
- Burung Cekup RumputMalay
- grote karekietDutch
- trastesongarNorwegian Nynorsk
- trostesangerNorwegian
- Trzciniak zwyczajnyPolish
- TrzciniakPolish
- trzciniak (zwyczajny)Polish
- rouxinol-grande-dos-caniçosPortuguese
- Lăcar mareRomanian
- Дроздовидная камышевкаRussian
- Дроздовидная камышовкаRussian
- Камышівка звычайнаRusyn
- RásttesruoššehasNorthern Sami
- rásttisvizarNorthern Sami
- trsteniarik veľkýSlovak
- trsteniarik škriekavýSlovak
- rakarSlovenian
- Veliki trstenjakSerbian
- Велики трстењакSerbian
- trastsångareSwedish
- Büyük KamışçınTurkish
- очеретянка великаUkrainian
- Pàssara canarèlaVenetian
- 大苇莺Chinese
- 大葦鶯Chinese
- 西方大葦鶯Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the great reed warbler
Other species in the same genus Acrocephalus.
Common reed warbler
Acrocephalus scirpaceus
Sedge warbler
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Aquatic warbler
Acrocephalus paludicola
Marsh warbler
Acrocephalus palustris
Blyth's reed warbler
Acrocephalus dumetorum
Paddyfield warbler
Acrocephalus agricola
CompareGreat reed warbler vs Common reed warblerGreat reed warbler vs Sedge warblerGreat reed warbler vs Aquatic warblerGreat reed warbler vs Marsh warbler
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How much does a great reed warbler weigh?
An adult great reed warbler weighs 30 g, with reported values from 28.95 g to 31.3 g.
What does the great reed warbler eat?
The great reed warbler is an invertivore, and by trophic level it is a carnivore.
What habitat does the great reed warbler live in?
Its habitat is wetland, and it has a perching lifestyle.
Is the great reed warbler endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a great reed warbler live?
Its lifespan is 10 years, with values up to 10.08 years reported.
How many eggs does the great reed warbler lay?
It lays 4.2 eggs per clutch, with 1.5 clutches per year and an incubation period of 14.5 days.
Is the great reed warbler migratory?
Yes, the great reed warbler is migratory.
Who named the great reed warbler?
Its scientific name, Acrocephalus arundinaceus, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758), naming Linnaeus in 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-reed-warbler
“Great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-reed-warbler.
@misc{great_reed_warbler_2026,
title = {Great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-reed-warbler},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}