Acrocephalus stentoreus - Clamorous Reed Warbler
Feather characters. Barbules are rather short (0.66-0.74 mm) and divided into pigmented nodes and partly pigmented (less than 50%) internodes. Bell-shaped nodes are equally distributed along the entire length of barbules (38-42 per mm). Proximal nodes are often very wide, slightly decreasing towards distal end. Villi are rounded and internodes are straight. Prongs are absent, although in some cases minute prongs may be found on distal end. Barbules have this typical structure for Passeriformes; pigmented, bell-shaped nodes combined with rounded villi.
Field characters. Size 18-20 cm. Weight 24.6 g (21.5-25.5) (Cramp (chief ed.) 1992). Similar to Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus, not included in BRIS). Best separated by shorter primary projection (5-6 primary tips visible; 8-9 in Great Reed Warbler); longer, more rounded tail; flatter-crowned head with weaker supercilium (indistinct behind eye); longer, narrower, and less blunt-ended bill; greyish legs (more pale brownish in Great Reed Warbler); and song. Eastern race brunnescens from Arabia and south-central Asia more olive-grey above, with distinct supercilium and intermediate primary-projection; very hard to separate from Great Reed Warbler. Behaviour much like Great Reed Warbler.
Voice. Call loud, deep 'chack' or 'kchr'. Song loud and harsh like Great Reed Warbler, but slightly sharper, phrases repeated 3-4 times; characteristic phrase sounds like 'rod-o-petch-iss'.
Distribution. Replaces Great Reed Warbler in NE Africa and Middle East. Nominate stentoreus and Middle Eastern brunnescens local resident; Central Asian brunnescens migrant to Israel. Map: see MapIt.
Habitat. Comparable to Great Reed Warbler, but apparently less attached to extensive reedbeds; also in cultivated crops near water or in scrub along irrigation canals.
Food. Invertebrates like insects, beetles, spiders, slugs; also seeds and small amphibians.