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The UK Bird Atlas

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Summer visitor · reporting peaks May · Reed Warblers and Allies · BOU category A

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Ron Knight, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Reed Warbler: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Reed Warbler has been recorded in 1,232 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (41%) in records to 2026. Summer visitor in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Wales and Scotland. Reporting peaks in May.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
31% or more of visits
High
12% to 31%
Moderate
4% to 12%
Low
under 4%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 0%<1%Very high
February 0%<1%Very high
March 0%<1%Very high
April 42%8%Low
May 100%18%Very high
June 85%16%Very high
July 76%14%Very high
August 49%9%Moderate
September 19%3%Low
October 3%<1%Low
November 0%<1%Very high
December 0%<1%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in May

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
J54Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
NC36Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NJ72Aberdeenshire, Scotland100%Very high
NS56Glasgow City, Scotland100%Very high
NT27City of Edinburgh, Scotland100%Very high
NT47East Lothian, Scotland100%Very high
NT48East Lothian, Scotland100%Very high
NU13Northumberland, England100%Very high
NX40Isle of Man100%Very high
NX76Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.