| 2010 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Endangered Justification This species is listed as Endangered because it has a small population which is estimated to be undergoing very rapid and continuing declines owing to extensive, and recently accelerating, drainage of its breeding habitat. Population declines are corroborated by an apparent decline in numbers trapped on migration at a ringing station.
Family/Sub-family Sylviidae Species name author (Hartlaub, 1891) Taxonomic source(s) AERC TAC (2003), Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993) Identification 18 cm. Large, rather dull reed-warbler. Upperparts dark brown and underparts mostly whitish, flanks creamy yellow. Head pattern strong with whitish supercilium and contrasting dark eyestripe. Similar spp. Best told from Great Reed-warbler A. arundinaceus by more slender, Long pointed bill, lower mandible is paler and often pinkish contrasting with the upper mandible, shorter less graduated tail, lack of rufous tones in plumage and paler underparts. Best told from Clamorous Reed-warbler A. stentoreus by its greater primary extension and the fact that the exposed primaries have pale fringes. Voice Male's song is kaka-kee, kaka-kee, kaka-kee. Call is a harsh chaarr.
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Population estimate | Population trend | Range estimate (breeding/resident) | Country endemic? | 2,500-9,999 | decreasing | 90,800 km2 | No |
Range & population Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in the Mesopotamian marshes of south-east Iraq (between Baghdad and Basra, though also observed in 2006 close to the Tigris north of Baghdad)2,15 and probably in south-west Iran in the Hawr Al Hawizeh marsh complex of Khuzestan8, two pairs have recently been found breeding in the Hula Valley, Israel14. It winters in Sudan, Ethiopia, south Somalia, south-east Kenya6, east Tanzania, south Malawi (few records) and Mozambique. It is regular on passage in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (where it may breed)5. Although presumably still common in the breeding habitat that remains2, and thought now to be common locally due to re-flooding of the marshes following the fall of Saddam's government, there was massive loss of its shallow, marshy wetland habitat within its breeding range since the 1950s. The maximum area of suitable habitat that is estimated to remain within the main Mesopotamian marshlands is 759 km2 (c.7% of the original marshland area, as of the mid-1970s)7. At Ngulia ringing station (Kenya), the average decadal ringing total for this species has been declining over the last three decades relative to the average decadal total for all Palearctic passerine migrants (by c.20% per decade)9. This suggests that a decline of up to 70-80% may have taken place since the 1970s8,11. However, the ringing methodology has changed somewhat during this period4,9 and even fewer birds might be expected in Kenya given the very high rate of destruction of the Mesopotamian marshes9. However, following the regeneration of habitat in southern Iraq, surveys indicate that the species increased between 2006 and 200715.
| Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria. | Ecology: Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in aquatic vegetation in or around shallow fresh or brackish water, still or flowing, mostly in Typha beds, although it forages extensively in adjacent dense reedbeds Phragmites austoralis15. Newly fledged birds are often observed feeding in Typha along the dry edge of marshes and also in adjacent Tamarix scrub15. It is found in low reeds above water, mangroves and gardens on migration, whilst in winter it has been recorded in dense Typha beds, coastal dense Suaeda monoica saltbushes, moist dense green thickets with tall rank grass and sedges near or over wet or drying ditches, swamps, lakes and flood pools and occasionally in herbaceous woodland undergrowth13. It occurs mostly singly or in pairs, but during migration it has been recorded in loose groups10.
| Threats Since the 1950s there has been considerable loss of its shallow, marshy wetland habitat due to large-scale hydrological projects throughout the Euphrates and Tigris river-basins2. The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) resulted in extensive damage to reedbeds in the main Mesopotamian marshes in southern Iraq2. In the 1980s, the construction of upstream dams smoothed out the annual flood pulse from the Zagros Mountains snow-melt which until then was probably an important factor affecting reedbed distribution and growth from year to year9,11,12. Large-scale hydrological engineering works in the main Mesopotamian marshes had, by 1993, prevented water from entering up to two-thirds of the area, with huge expanses of lake drying up1,3. Improvement in access to the region, with consequent increases in settlement, has resulted in increased disturbance and water pollution2. Until 1997 perhaps as much as one third of the original extent of suitable habitat remained on the Iran-Iraq border where the dominant water supply to the area (unregulated rivers from Iran) had not yet been controlled or reduced2. By 2000, however, the main Mesopotamian marshes had been reduced to just 1,294 km2 7, and by 2003 a further third of this area had been drained, leaving a maximum of 759 km2 of wetland extant7. The amount of suitable reedbed habitat within this wetland area is probably significantly smaller11.
| | Conservation measures underway CMS Appendix II. The population in Israel is being monitored intensely and the population in the Lower Marshes of Iraq is also subject to a monitoring program.
| | Conservation measures proposed Confirm whether Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in the marshes of Khuzestan, Iran8,11. Continue to monitor migrating birds at Ngulia (Kenya) to assess population trends8,9,11. Conduct surveys to assess whether the species now breeds in sub-optimal habitats, e.g. further up the Euphrates/Tigris north of Baghdad11. Investigate possibilities for habitat restoration.
| References 1. Evans (1993). 2. Maltby (1994). 3. Pearce (1993). 4. D. Pearson verbally (2000). 5. Porter et al. (1996). 6. Urban et al. (1997). 7. UNEP (2003). 8. D. Scott in litt. (2003). 9. D. Pearson in litt. (2003). 10. Baker (1997). 11. M. Evans in litt. (2003). 12. G. Backhurst in litt. (2003). 13. Walther et al (2004). 14. Shanni and Labinger (2007). 15. O. Fadhel in litt. (2007).
| Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), David Capper (BirdLife International), Mike Evans (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International), Andrew O'Brien (BirdLife International), Sue Shutes (BirdLife International), Helen Temple (BirdLife International) | Contributors Graeme Backhurst (East African ringing group, Nature Kenya), Des Callaghan (BirdLife International), Mike Evans (BirdLife International), David Pearson, Derek Scott | IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International) |
| Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Acrocephalus griseldis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 3/9/2010 | This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List. To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums |
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