Sedge Wren

The Sedge Wren was first described in 1823 by acclaimed ornithologist Johann Friedrich Naumann. Initially assumed to be conspecifics of the Grass Wren, in 2014 it was separated and initially called the “Short-billed Marsh Wren”. Then they were renamed to help distinguish it from the Marsh Wren.

About Sedge Wrens

These tiny birds have for long evaded birdwatchers and researchers alike to remain a mystery even today. The lack of research in its breeding, habitat, and migration makes this bird one of the least documented birds in the modern age.

The only thing well documented in this bird is its singing. Unlike its elusive nature when singing, the bird sings as loud as it can. It is natural that birdwatchers want to know all they can about this Wren species. So, why don’t we find out more today? We will learn about: 

● Sedge Wren Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Sedge Wren Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Sedge Wren Range and Migration, Nesting

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Sedge Wren Color Pattern

Sedge Wrens are primarily black and brown. Their backs and heads are streaks of brown and black, they have white underbellies and throats. They also have a soft brown tone that stretches along their sides, under their tails, and along with their breasts. Their tail has black bars and black stripes on its head and back. Their rump is orange.

The upper mandible in their beak beaks and brown and their lower mandible is yellow. The feet are pink.

Male and female Sedge Wren look identical throughout the year, and juveniles of both sexes look like slightly paler versions of the adults without as many streaks of black along the back and head.

Description and Identification

Identification of a Sedge Wren can be a very difficult task. Elusive birds that often run away upon feeling threatened, also very rarely leave the cover of the foliage. Another factor that makes finding them difficult, is their nomadic nature which leads to their breeding and wintering grounds changing season to season. 

The Sedge Wren is often misidentified as House Wrens, Winter Wrens, Carolina Wrens, Marsh Wrens, and Bewick’s Wrens. You can tell them apart by their distinct streaks along with their head and back.

The ideal method to find them would be through their songs, their elusive nature is only matched by their love for singing, which can be a great tool to lead a hopeful birdwatcher to catch a glimpse. Their loud songs are sung mostly while they’re perched alongside other adult males during their competitions that are heard in its wintering and breeding grounds. Its song can lead to a misidentification since the Marsh Wren is known for its melodious
singing. A good method to use their stereotype early notes used before improvising to distinguish from the Marsh Wren’s learned songs.

Sedge Wren Song

Even though very small, the Sedge Wren is a loud singer and a voracious singer at that. Developing up to a whopping sixty-nine songs in their lifetime they are known to differ from their Marsh cousins, who learn their songs from the environment. The Sedge Wren loves to improvise its songs leading and create many of its own.

Only male Sedge Wrens sing, and begin to improvise and develop from their time as fledglings, but do not sing until they develop an entire song repertoire.

Described as “Staccato Chattering”, adult Sedge Wren begins with the same three or four notes every time they sing, and begin to improvise using variations of their trill.

The Sedge Wren sings not only in its breeding grounds but begins to sing at the wintering grounds upon the arrival of spring. Adult males sing primarily to attract females, but may also counter other male’s songs with their own. During the counter-singing the male will sing a song of a different frequency, increasing the pace of the song rapidly. As they don’t share songs and are constantly improving they repeat songs only nineteen times before changing to another.

The cryptic bird is often a lot easier to listen to rather than see, thus its songs are the most well-researched part of the Sedge Wren.

Sedge Wren Size

Wrens are small birds, the Sedge Wren on the other hand is smaller than its other Wren cousins. Smaller than a Sparrow, the Sedge Wren is measured from tip to tip anywhere between 3.9 and 4.7 inches. They weigh nothing more than 0.3 ounces and have a wingspan between 4.7 and 5.5 inches.

While both genders measure into a similar length and weight, the male looks bigger due to its plumage.

Sedge Wren Behavior

Sedge Wren is an elusive bird, upon facing any threats they run and ground level and take flight, after a short distance they dive into the foliage to escape the threat. While unthreatened, they roam the ground hopping about searching for insect prey, but they never leave the cover of foliage to ensure their safety.

During April the male Sedge Wren arrives at their chosen breeding grounds. During which they secure their nesting territory through an aggressive display. Highly territorial, they sing to ensure their chosen nesting ground. While in competition their songs begin to change more often and increase in pace.

Oddly, adult male Sedge Wrens, about two weeks after their arrival begin to build their nests, building multiple. Upon the arrival of the females, they inspect the nests built by the males and chose a nest and a mate along with it.

Another odd habit of the Sedge Wren is that their breeding and wintering grounds often change, thus making research on the little birds even harder.

Sedge Wren Diet

Due to their elusive nature and cryptic behavior, not a lot is known about the Sedge Wren’s diet. With the few observations found, it is safe to assume that they too share a love for insects like many of their bird cousins. They share a love for spiders along with ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and moth larvae being a usual source of sustenance. 

They are ground foragers, but they often fly to catch aerial prey. Unlike their Wren cousins who forage in forested areas, the Sedge Wrens have been able to learn to forage in their shrubby environment. 

Sedge Wren Habitat

After their namesake, Sedge Wren is most often found in the Sedge marshlands and other wet grasslands but can often be found during their breeding seasons along with ponds, coastal wetlands, and marshes. They prefer areas with tall grass and many shrubs as they use the cover provided for the safety to nest.

Sedge Wren holds no fidelity to their breeding or wintering grounds and will readily abandon it if there is a fluctuation in water levels. This can be during the breeding season, upon which they will find other wetlands to re-nest. They often do not return to their breeding or wintering grounds due the minor drying or flooding.

They breed in southern New Hampshire, southern Maine, and much of Massachusetts. Winter in the Atlantic coastal states from Virginia through the Gulf Coast to Mexico. There is almost no data about its home territory due to the thin distribution of the bird and their lack of fidelity to their breeding and wintering grounds.

Range and Migration

Sedge Wren populations in North America are short-distance migrants, they are also night migrants. Northern American populations begin to migrate towards the north to their breeding grounds towards the beginning of April and continue to till May. Some even move after breeding once to a southern part of their range to breed again before their migration south before the winter.

Their migration south begins in August and goes on till October, during which they migrate in multi-species flocks along with many of their Wren cousins. The female Sedge Wrens also winter separately from the male Sedge Wrens, flying further south. 

Sedge Wren Lifecycle

Sedge Wren can lay anywhere from a small clutch of two eggs going up to a clutch of eight eggs. Some Sedge Wren only raises one brood a year while some observations have noted that some often monogamous couples will raise a second brood slightly south in their breeding range.

They lay one egg a day, which is white and smooth, and begin incubating immediately after laying the final egg. The adult female then continues to incubate the egg for thirteen to sixteen days during which the adult male feeds her and defends the territory. Upon hatching the youngins are naked and helpless, at four days their eyes open. They begin to fledge for twenty-four to thirty-one days after which the couple continues to care for them. The female primarily feeds the youngins, but the male sometimes helps but contributes primarily to territory defense. It is unclear for how long the young remain under care after fledging but do become independent upon the beginning of the migration south.

There is no data of the lifespan of Sedge Wren as no banded Sedge Wren has ever been recovered. It is assumed that similar to their Wren cousins they average at two years.

Nesting

As mentioned before, the adult male Sedge Wrens are responsible for the building of the nests. They often build it among tall grass and small shrubs, sometimes at the base of dense vegetation at the ground level, never higher than seven to ten meters.

The male Sedge Wrens carefully weaves together nests using grass. Adult males often build an average of seven nests in one breeding season. The female Wren then arrives and chooses a mate and then chooses a nest, of which she then lines the inside with fine materials.

Sedge Wrens can be monogamous but often aren’t. Adult male Sedge Wrens during mating season can have a secondary mate who occupies one of the multiple nests that aren’t in use by the primary mate. The secondary mate’s youngins often lag behind in development to the youngins of the primary mate due to the lack of attention from the adult male. The average adult male builds seven nests in one season, the extra nests can serve as dummy nests
against potential predators. Sedge Wrens, being highly territorial may even puncture the eggs of their fellow Wrens if found too close to their nest.

The choice to keep low nests has left nests and the young ones susceptible to destruction by cows grazing in agricultural pastures and the clearing of tall grass in forests.

Anatomy of a Sedge Wren

Sedge Wrens are small birds. Their heads are slightly domed in the front and flat at the back. Their legs are long with strong claws for perching. Sedge Wren’s bills are rather long, slender, pointed, and downward curved. Their wings are short and rounded. Their tails are short and often held upright.

Final Thoughts

Even though Sedge Wrens are a species of least concern, due to their lack of data and their dependence on vulnerable habitats many share a concern for these elusive species. The draining of wet grasslands for conversion has left many breeding grounds now unsuitable, coupled with the habit of these birds to build their nests near ground level in tall grass has left them vulnerable to nest destruction during grazing and grass mowing. The burning of grasslands in Argentina has also destroyed much of its wintering grounds.

Their erratic and seasonal choosing of breeding grounds has led to difficulties in the conservation efforts throughout. All of this has led the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Service to consider them an endangered migratory species.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Sedge Wrens

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Sedge Wrens are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

 Sedge Wren Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Sedge Wrens. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For Sedge Wrens

There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.

Best Bird Houses For Sedge Wrens

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.