Alternative name: Tuamotu Warbler
- Acrocephalus atyphus
Identification
18 cm. A slender brown reed warbler with a medium-length bill and a highly variable plumage, with a greyish and a brownish colour morph.
- Whitish supercilium
- Grey-brown upperparts, feathers often with fine dirty white margins
- Slightly darker grey-brown wings and tail, tipped with white
- Sometimes some white feathers scattered on wings, tail and/or head
- Whitish underparts
- Black upper mandible, flesh-coloured lower mandible
- eremus larger than nominate, with longer, downcurved bill and plumage heavily tinted with cinnamon
- niauensis smaller than nominate, very weak supercilium
- flavidus larger, plumage washed yellow, especially on underparts
- ravus with washed yellow underparts
Sexes similar, juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
Found on the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia.
Locally common.
Taxonomy
Six subspecies recognized:
- A. a. atyphus on the islands of the northwestern Tuamotu Archipelago
- A. a. ravus on the islands of the southeastern Tuamotu Archipelago
- A. a. palmarum on Anaa Island (Tuamotu Archipelago)
- A. a. niauensis on Niau Island (Tuamotu Archipelago)
- A. a. eremus on Makatea Island (Tuamotu Archipelago)
- A. a. flavidus on Napuka Island (Tuamotu Archipelago)
Has been considered conspecific with Tahiti Reed Warbler and Marquesan Reed Warbler.
Habitat
Brush country and woodland on raised coral islands and atolls. Also in gardens, coconut plantations and Pandanus thickets.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects. Takes also spiders, molluscs, crustaceans, small lizards and some plant material. Forages in trees and bushes, sometimes also on the ground. Sometimes catches insects in flights.
Breeding
Breeding season probably throughout year. The nest is a deep cup made of grass stems, twigs, long leaves, coconut fibres and fine stems of vines. It's placed 1.5 to 10 m above the ground in a bush or in a tree. Lays 1-3 eggs.
Movements
This is a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2006. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553064
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Tuamotu Reed Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Tuamotu_Reed_Warbler
