Reed Warbler (Eurasian Reed Warbler)
Acrocephalus scirpaceus
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Distribution Britain 790 (+1.9%) Ireland 13
Numbers breeding: Britain 60,000 + Ireland ~50 European status: 3,100,000 (2% in Britain and Ireland =7) British population trend: excellent increases (+228% CBC){+194%} How likely are you to record it? 193 squares (4.3%) Ranked 88 |
By the end of the 19th century the Reed Warbler had spread from breeding solely in the southern third of England northwards to include almost all Lancashire and much of Yorkshire. Later the birds retreated with only isolated colonies reported from north of the line connecting the Humber and Mersey and sparsely in eastern Wales and Devon. The situation changed little until the first Breeding Atlas when they were a little further north, in Anglesey, along the south coast of Wales and a few places in Devon and Cornwall. Then a real spread started although breeding on Shetland in 1973 may have been from Scandinavia. Extra sites in northern England were colonised and also southern Scotland, more sites in West Wales and the South-west are now regularly used. However the real change is in Ireland where one pair bred in 1953 (Co. Down) but over the last twenty years the breeding population has built up to about 100 pairs. Regular sites are in Cork, Wexford and Wicklow and there are many more reed bed sites for them to find. In England the proliferation of gravel pits and small nature reserves with reeds has clearly provided the Reed Warbler with many extra, and protected, breeding sites — CBC up 228% indicates this. Further expansion and increase very likely — particularly if the summers get better as this is a late migrant.
Bruce, K. 1997 Scottish Birds: 19, 119-120.
Smiddy, P. & O'Mahony, B. 1997 Irish Birds: 6, 23-28.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead