Sedge Wren

Description:

This Sedge Wren was not shy about posing for photos very close to the path, and was ironically hanging out in a stand of sedge grass. A small and secretive passerine bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is widely distributed in North America. It is often found in wet grasslands and meadows where it nests in the tall grasses and sedges and feeds on insects. The sedge wren was formerly considered as conspecific with the non-migratory grass wren of central and South America. The sedge wren is a relatively small wren that measures 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in), weighs 7 to 10 g (0.25 to 0.35 oz) and has a wing-chord of 4.1 to 4.6 cm (1.6 to 1.8 in). Wingspan ranges from 4.7-5.5 in (12-14 cm). Females and males have the same plumage but males are slightly larger. Their head and back are tawny brown streaked with black and white. They have a pale buff supercilium and brown irises. Their rump is orange and tail is tawny brown bared with black. Wings are tawny brown bared with black, white and pale buff. They have a white throat and belly with pale buff on the side. Their beak is long and slender and measures on average 6.77 to 6.95 mm The upper mandible of the beak is brown while the lower mandible is yellow. They have pink legs and feet. Juveniles are overall similar to adults but have less streaking on the head and nape and their chest is paler than adults. The sedge wren can be differentiated from the similar marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris) by its smaller size, streaked crown and different song.

Habitat:

Hadley Valley Preserve is former farmland that has been restored to mostly native prairie with some clumps of shrubs and forest. There is a nice size creek bisecting it. The 807-acre Hadley Valley was acquired between 2000 and 2014. The preserve is part of the Spring Creek preservation system, which conserves more than 2,000 acres. Hadley Valley protects a diversity of habitats, including forest, savanna, wetland and a portion of Spring Creek. Wildlife found at the preserve includes more than 15,000 species of insects, birds, aquatic invertebrates, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. The preserve is also home to a variety of plant species, including tall swamp marigold, wahoo, great angelica, yellow avens and shingle oak. The site is managed with invasive species control, prescribed burning, native species establishment and soil stabilization to protect and enhance its natural resources. The preserve is the location of the largest restoration effort in the District’s history — a stream de-channelization, wetland restoration and wildlife habitat restoration project in 500 acres of the preserve — performed in partnership with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Openlands, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the O’Hare Modernization Program.

Notes:

The pegman feature for the map in the upper right of all the spottings enables a street view of the spotting locale. Very intestingly, all the photos I saw that it showed were old (prior to most of all of the restoration work), so it shows an intesting before and after comparison.