Moustached Warbler

Acrocephalus melanopogon

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acrocephalidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Carricerín real

Photograph: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 13 cm
Weight: 12 g

Presence in the Strait

Occasional winter visitor. All records are from the River Guadiaro estuary and Marismas del Palmones.

Identification

Similar to a Sedge Warbler but with redder and bolder streaked upperparts. Rusty flanks and breast, head with a well defined black eye-stripe and white supercilium, broader at rear; blackish crown, darkish ear coverts and well-defined white throat.

Movements

Noted between October and March.

Ring recoveries

Adult bird ringed at the River Guadiaro estuary on 12.11.83 controlled at Tarragona on 28.10.84, 707 Km. away.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

25 %

Peak in March. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 19 November 2007
Latest record: 19 August 2017

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: VU · Vulnerable · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Sedge Warbler13–13 cm · Migrant · overlapping size
Aquatic Warbler13–13 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Eurasian Reed Warbler12.5–12.5 cm · Seasonal
Great Reed Warbler19–19 cm · Seasonal
Blyth’s Reed Warbler12.5–12.5 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acrocephalidae
GBIF taxon key: 2493124

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Moustached Warbler

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery