Marsh Warbler ( Acrocephalus palustris, family: Sylviidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called European Marsh Warbler

marsh warbler Kruger National Park birds The Marsh Warbler (Latin name Acrocephalus palustris) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 633 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 798 also a picture of the Marsh Warbler on page 849. The Marsh Warbler belongs to the family of birds classified as Sylviidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Marsh Warbler is also known by these other names: European Marsh Warbler.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Marsh Warbler was called the European Marsh Warbler

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Marsh Warbler is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Marsh Warbler in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Marsh Warbler : see above distribution map.

The Marsh Warbler.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Marsh Warbler is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Marsh Warbler is about 13 cms and its weight is about 12 gms

You will find that the male Marsh Warbler plumage and colours are different to that of the female Marsh Warbler

  • Head is green.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is yellow.
  • Throat is yellow.
  • Back is olive.
  • Legs are brown.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Marsh Warbler feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Marsh Warbler takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Marsh Warbler is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Marsh Warbler are: woodlands

You will normally see the Marsh Warbler by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Europese Rietsanger

German ... Sumpfrohrsnger

Portuguese ... Felosa-palustre

French ... Rousserolle verderolle

Dutch ... Bosrietzanger

 | Next KNP bird |

For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 633

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za