Marsh wren

Marsh wren
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A marsh wren in Canada
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Subclass:	Neornithes
Infraclass:	Neognathae
Superorder:	Neoaves
Order:	Passeriformes
Suborder:	Passeri
Infraorder:	Passerida
Family:	Troglodytidae
Genus:	Cistothorus
Species:	C. palustris
Binomial name
Cistothorus palustris (Wilson, 1810)
Synonyms
Telmatodytes palustris

The marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris) is a small North American songbird of the wren family. It is sometimes called long-billed marsh wren to distinguish it from the sedge wren, also known as short-billed marsh wren.

Description

Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, Quebec, Canada

Adults have brown upperparts with a light brown belly and flanks and a white throat and breast. The back is black with white stripes. They have a dark cap with a white line over the eyes and a short thin bill.

The male's song is a loud gurgle used to declare ownership of territory; western males have a more varied repertoire.

Their breeding habitat is marshes with tall vegetation such as cattails across North America. In the western United States, some birds are permanent residents. Other birds migrate to marshes and salt marshes in the southern United States and Mexico.

These birds forage actively in vegetation, sometimes flying up to catch insects in flight. They mainly eat insects, also spiders and snails.

The nest is an oval lump attached to marsh vegetation, entered from the side. The clutch is normally four to six eggs, though the number can range from three to ten. The male builds many unused nests in his territory. He may puncture the eggs and fatally peck the nestlings of other birds nesting nearby, including his own species (even his own offspring) and red-winged blackbirds, yellow-headed blackbirds, and least bitterns.

This bird is still common, although its numbers have declined with the loss of suitable wetland habitat. Wholesale draining of marshes will lead to local extinction. Still, this species is widespread enough not to qualify as threatened according to the IUCN.

Gallery

• 

  Marsh Wren at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, California

• 

  Iona, British Columbia, Canada

• 100 Marsh Wren cropped.jpg

  Nest, illustration

• Museum of Science, Boston, MA - IMG 3236.JPG

  Eggs

References

• Henninger, W.F. (1906): A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio. Wilson Bull. 18(2): 47-60. DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext

External links

• Identification tips - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Marsh wren videos, photos, and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
• Marsh wren photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Interactive range map of Cistothorus palustris at IUCN Red List maps