The nightingale reed warbler was described by the French zoologists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard in 1832 from a specimen collected on the island of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean.

These included the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) which has also decimated the populations or even caused the extinctions of several other bird species on Guam.

), cats (Felis catus) and feral ungulates such as goats (Capra hircus) or sheep (Ovis aries).

[5] An introduced plant, ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis), destroyed the canopy of the trees that nightingale reed warblers built their nests in.

The typical clutch has two eggs that are white with a green tint and are covered in lavender, chestnut, and black spots.