| The Sedge Wren, formerly known as "Short-billed Marsh Wren," can best be distinguished from other wrens by its relatively small size, streaked crown and back, faint buffy eye stripes, and a short tail which is often held upright. It is readily distinguished from the its close cousin, the Marsh Wren which has a much more prominent eyestripe.
In summer, sedge wrens are found from southern Saskatchewan and Minnesota across the Great Lake region to the east. They winter along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, down into Mexico. Sedge wrens arrive north in April and May, and migrate south to brackish coastal marshes from August to October.
This small but feisty bird often will sing its staccato song over and over again during the mating season to keep rivals out of its breeding territory. Unlike the marsh wren the sedge wren does not mimic the songs of its rivals. The marsh wren has a greater opportunity to learn the various songs of its rivals because it tends to return to the same breeding site each year. The sedge wren shows little site fidelity from year to year, possibly because the habitat that the sedge wren prefers is more likely to flood or dry out from one season to the next. The male which will take more than one mate will build several "dummy" nests as part of his courtship rituals. Few of these ever become homes. Like the marsh wren the male will also destroy the eggs of other sedge wrens and other small birds to reduce the competition.
For nesting, sedge wrens require wet grassy and marshy habitat where sedges and grasses are interspersed with small shrubs as they avoid the cattail marshes preferred by the marsh wren. A typical clutch consists of six or seven white eggs laid in a globular nest. The nest is a ball of grass and sedges with a side entrance built one to two feet off the ground. Two broods can usually be produced each year. As young hatch in 12 to 14 days, and leave the nest at two weeks later.
Sedge wrens are considered endangered in many regions and are indeed rare throughout their range. Over the past several decades, their numbers have dropped significantly. The loss of wetland habitat and the reforestation of farmland during the past century, are thought to be responsible for the decline.
The sedge wren's diet consists almost entirely of insects including moths, beetles, ants, caterpillars, grasshoppers and other insects.
length 4 to 4 1/2 inches
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