This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we’re beating around the bush in pursuit of two boisterous but bashful birds, the Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) and the Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris).
Bouncing between the blades of broomsedge and creeping cautiously below the cordgrass is where today’s two songbirds spend most of their time. Both of these Wrens are small, warm brown in color, active, and vocal when disturbed. They are scarcely seen but easily heard. With great agility they acrobatically ricochet through the vegetation of the marsh and seldom need to fly through the open air. Here they hunt for insects and arachnids, build their nests, and raise their young all while hidden from the world above.
The Sedge Wren is only found here in the Lowcountry during winter. They’re most often found in wet fallow fields, impoundment banks, and other thickly vegetated wetland fringes. Their belly blends from bone-white to straw-brown on the flanks. Their back, wings, and head are speckled in blacks, browns, and whites to create a cryptic, well camouflaged cloak. They have a straw-colored eyebrow above the eye and a bill that’s a fair bit shorter than the Marsh Wren. Sedge Wrens are rarely heard singing in South Carolina but their calls can easily be heard if you trespass into their territory. Sedge Wrens often spit a quick scolding two note call at intruders as they worm their way through the underbrush towards their target. Sometimes getting within just a few feet, fussing all the while, popping out of the grass for just a split second to perform reconnaissance, and then burrowing away never to be seen again.
The Marsh Wren is a year-round resident of our Lowcountry marshes, be they saltmarsh, brackish, or fresh, but is most common in the saltmarsh. They have a pale white belly, straw-yellow flanks, and a rusty back and shoulders which trail into a checkerboard of black and brown on the wings and tail. Their strong white eyebrow can often identify them at just a glance. A Marsh Wren is a hard thing to see but they’re not difficult to hear. Over the top of the saltmarsh, when the sea breeze slacks, many male Marsh Wrens can often be heard singing their metallic bubbling song of chattering notes. When a person wanders into their range, they may also close the distance to issue a series of angry “chek” scolds while craning their neck through cordgrass or cattail before timidly turning tail and retreating into the sea of green, still calling as they go.
