Marsh Wren
Cistothorus palustris
Summary 4
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 5
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.
This little bird is native to Canada, Mexico, and the United States. 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. their non-breeding range is in the southern United States going into Mexico and their breeding range is in the northeastern United States going into Canada.
Measurements:
Conservation 5
This bird is still common with an estimated global breeding population of 9.4 million. That being said, its numbers have declined with the loss of suitable wetland habitat and wholesale draining of marshes will lead to local extinction. Still, this species is widespread enough not to qualify as threatened according to the IUCN.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Rick Leche, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/64649343@N00/2514267752
- (c) Sam Hough, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Sam Hough
- (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda
- Adapted by Desmon M Dunn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistothorus_palustris
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh_wren
