Submission No. 465: Oriental Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis West Island, Ashmore Reef. 27 January to 3 February 2005. (Unpublished) Submitted by: M. Carter & G. Swann.

This submission concerns the sighting of an Oriental Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis present on West Island, Ashmore Reef, off the northern coast of Western Australia from 27 January to 3 February 2005.

The bird ws described as a large acrocephalus with the description clearly supporting a Reed Warbler. Particular attention was paid to the call and a tape recording of the bird was provided to the committee in the form of a micro-cassette.

Due to technical difficulties only one member of the committee was able to listen to the recording however, the subsequent description of the call, combined with the descriptive content within the submission prompted seven members to vote in favour of acceptance. The one member that voted against acceptance did so because he did not personally heard the call.

To date, all confirmed field records of Oriental Reed Warbler in Australia have involved birds examined in the hand or have relied heavily on tape recordings of the call, which is known to be diagnostic.

References and Bibliography:

• Flegg, J. (Ed.) (1994). Reader's Digest Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Reader's Digest: Sydney.
• Parmenter, T & Byers, C (1991), A Guide to the Warblers of the Western Palaearctic, Bruce Coleman Books, Middlesex
• Anon, (1994), ‘Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus’, Birder, 8(8), 46-51, (in Japanese).
• Beaman, M. & Madge, S. (1998), The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic, Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
• Rogers, D., & Hassell, C. (1999), ‘Oriental Reed-Warbler near Broome, NW Australia’, BARC Case 247.
• Shirihai, H., Roselaar, C.S., Helbig, A.J., Barthel, P.H. & van Loon, A.J. (1995), ‘Identification and taxonomy of large Acrocephalus warblers’, Dutch Birding, 17, 229-239.
• M^cKean, J.L. (1983), "Some notes on the occurrence of the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus in the Northern Territory", Northern Territory Naturalist, 6: 3-8.

Verdict: Accepted

Tony Palliser

Chairman, Birds Australia Rarities Committee