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The Aquatic Warbler Conservation Handbook
... The Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola is a small songbird breeding in Central European mesotrophic sedge fen mires, returning from late April onwards from wintering in sub-Saharan Africa (Tanneberger and Kubacka 2018). Aquatic Warblers show an extraordinary promiscuous breeding system. ...
... Here, vegetation communities preferred by Aquatic Warblers for breeding (Caricetum elatae, C. distichae and C. distichae mosaic with C. appropinquatae or Carex lasiocarpa communities) are managed in an area of ~200 ha. Habitat suitability for Aquatic Warblers is also determined by water levels at or slightly above the soil surface (Tanneberger and Kubacka 2018). The fen mires at Žuvintas biosphere reserve are regularly flooded during winter and water levels slowly fall during the breeding season. ...
... Furthermore, annual differences in return rates could also be caused by emigration to other breeding sites during spring . Key habitat features such as inundation or vegetation height (Tanneberger and Kubacka 2018) are highly variable and lower habitat quality may induce higher dispersal. Although the population increased again in 2023 (Figure 3), fluctuations suggest that several years of translocations are needed to stabilise a local population. ...
Translocations are a conservation measure that is increasingly applied to assist the recovery of animal populations threatened with extinction. Long‐distance migrating passerines, however, have been rarely addressed in translocation projects so far. One such species is the globally threatened Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola, a habitat specialist breeding in fen mires in Central Europe and wintering in sub‐Saharan Africa. The global breeding population has severely declined during the last decades due to habitat loss. Although the implementation of conservation measures has stopped the decline in the core breeding area, peripheral populations continue to decline. The aim of this pilot study was to reveal whether translocated Aquatic Warblers will return to a distant release site after wintering in Africa. Our translocation method is based on natal habitat imprinting of juvenile passerines before their first migration. In 2018 and 2019, 50 chicks (10–12 entire broods) each year were translocated 526 km from Belarus to Lithuania at an age of about 7 days and hand‐reared with predominantly wild insects captured in the surroundings of the release site. The survival rate of chicks until soft release from outdoor aviaries was 98% (49 fledglings released) in 2018 and 100% (50 fledglings released) in 2019. In 2019, 11 Aquatic Warblers (9 males, 2 females) were resighted at the release site after returning from wintering grounds. In 2020, nine birds (6 males, 3 females) were observed, including three males from the 2018 release cohort. An average apparent first‐year survival of 0.30 was estimated. The very successful outcome gives new impetus for the restoration prospects of declined populations of the Aquatic Warbler to halt extinction at the margins of the breeding range.
... To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating patterns of infestation by feather mites in a bird species, in which both females and males mate with many partners. Insights into the potential effects of feather mites on Aquatic Warblers are of additional importance as the species is globally threatened due to habitat loss (Tanneberger and Kubacka, 2018). We compared the prevalence and abundance of feather mites between sexes and between the first-brood and the second-brood periods. ...
... The Aquatic Warbler is a small migratory passerine that breeds in open, mesotrophic lowland sedge fen mires and topographically similar marshy habitats created after fen drainage. Nests are placed on sedge tussocks or suspended in litter or living sedge vegetation (Kloskowski et al., 2015;Tanneberger and Kubacka, 2018). Though sexually monomorphic, the species exhibits a promiscuous mating system. ...
The effects of ectosymbiotic feather mites on avian host fitness and factors driving the variation in mite infestation levels, such as host mating and brood care system, are poorly understood. We investigated patterns of feather mite prevalence and abundance, and relationships between infestation and body condition in breeding Aquatic Warblers Acrocephalus paludicola, a promiscuous songbird with female-only parental care. In plumage, the dominant mite species was Trouessartia bifurcata, whose prevalence more than doubled during the breeding season, to reach 95% (95% confidence limits 71–99) during the second-brood period. Approximately 5% of birds were co-infested with Proctophyllodes cf. clavatus. While mite prevalence did not differ between sexes, mite abundance was significantly greater in Aquatic Warbler females than in males, and it increased between the first- and the second-brood period irrespective of sex. No significant relationship was found between mite prevalence or abundance and host condition expressed as mass scaled to size. However, in breeding females, this relationship could be confounded by the effects of nest-dwelling ectoparasites present in some nests but only sporadically if at all detected on adult birds; 2% of adult birds were heavily infested with the hematophagous mite Dermanyssus hirundinis (Mesostigmata). Our findings indicate that the mating system may affect symbiont variability between and within host species. The high prevalence of feather mites on adult birds at the late stage of the breeding season supports the hypothesis that promiscuous species have high infestation levels. Greater mite loads on Aquatic Warbler females than males reveal a different pattern from previously studied birds. However, we did not identify any consequences of mite infestation for the female body condition or current breeding success; hence, the apparently commensal relationship does not imply costs of female promiscuity.
... Out of the 11 shorebird species that regularly breed in Poland, 9 species currently thrive in Bagno Bubnów. This area is recognized as one of the ten most important global habitats for the Aquatic Warbler (Tanneberger and Kubacka, 2018;Kubacka et al., 2024), highlighting the critical role of undegraded peatlands in preserving biodiversity in the 21st century. ...
The study analysed three wetlands located in eastern Poland which have been subjected to varying levels of anthropogenic pressure, and conservation measures over the years (Bagno Bubnów, Krowie Bagno and Ostoja Poleska). They are the remnants of the primaeval wetlands, of Western Polesie. The objectives of this study were to: analyse the long-term changes in the frequency of occurrence of plant communities and rare plant and bird species from 1950 to 1970 (before protective measures were implemented) to 2000–2020 (when protection was in place); assess the changes of the climatic and edaphic habitat conditions during the half-century of transformation processes, using ecological indicators; and indicate the least and most transformed among the analysed areas. The wetlands of western Polesie constitute a sanctuary of great habitat and species diversity. The degree of deformation and the forms of protective activities significantly influenced the biodiversity of the analysed sites. The greatest changes in the occurrence of the plant communities and rare plant species during the half-century took place in Krowie Bagno, while the smallest in Bagno Bubnów. In all areas, the fertility of habitats increased and their humidity decreased. The downward trend is most pronounced in the declining bird populations observed across the studied areas. Strong anthropopressure (drainage) and late protection (Krowie Bagno) contributed to lower biodiversity. Our results confirm that low anthropogenic pressure and early protective measures mean an increase in the diversity of plant species and communities. Preserving the biodiversity of these naturally priceless areas is the priority. The results show that the necessary condition is to stop water loss from these areas. The observed trends in plant communities and rare plant species indicate a high threat to the least transformed wetlands.
... The IUCN Red List contains nine species of European mire vascular plants and five species of birds. Key umbrella or flagship species for European fen mires are the Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola)(Tanneberger and Kubacka 2018), the Fen Orchid (Liparis loeselii) and (for European bogs) the Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria). In raised bogs, the Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) is a key species.Figure 5.6. ...
The link between male song and reproductive success has been explored at length in socially monogamous birds, but results were inconsistent and under-represented socially non-monogamous species with uniparental care. Here, we evaluated whether metrics of male song in the aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola , a promiscuous songbird with female-only care and large repertoires, are associated with fitness- and quality-related traits. We showed that the number of 9-day-old nestlings fathered and probability of avian malaria infection increased with the rate of agonistic song, produced in male-male interactions, and that male scaled mass index (proxy for energy reserves) positively correlated with the repertoire size. The male breeding success was not explained by repertoire size and song duty cycle. None of the song variables clearly explained the male return rate or change in the tarsus length (proxy for structural body size) and scaled mass index of the fathered chicks between days 2 and 9 post-hatch. No other relationships between the song characteristics and the inbreeding coefficient, scaled mass index, wing-length and Trypanosoma infection status of the males were supported, and Plasmodium infection was unrelated to the song duty cycle and repertoire size. We conclude that in male aquatic warblers the repertoire size could be a signal of early developmental stress or current body condition, and the agonistic song rate could be shaped by sexual selection and signal to females a genetic makeup that enhances survival upon infection by Plasmodium .
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