Bird
Marsh Wren
Cistothorus palustris
Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 12 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 12

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 12
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 12
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests


Streams, rivers and their banks


Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Other habitats in its models (40)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (28)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer and winter, only within 60 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.
Northeast (2)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (10)
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Year-round: nests here, in 22 of 100 counties.
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 89 of 100 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 70
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Plants 367
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Wolf's BluegrassPoa wolfii
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Woodland SpurgeEuphorbia obtusata
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
Swamps
Birds 69
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- RedheadAythya americana
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
Plants 329
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
- Weak Stellate SedgeCarex seorsa
- White-edge SedgeCarex debilis
- Swamp ButtercupRanunculus septentrionalis
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 112
- DovekieAlle alle
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Plants 132
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Dune BluecurlsTrichostema nesophilum
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Marsh Wren Slow streams only
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)

























































