Bird

Marsh Wren

Cistothorus palustris

Names as given by USGS GAP.

Year-round, migratory and summer in Virginia, breeding, in the USGS range maps. Its habitat models include 11 habitats found here.

Seasons here: Year-round, migratory and summer
Breeding: Breeding
Range: 101 of 133 counties
Habitats: 11

Male Marsh Wren, whole bird — **Male**. (c) datadan, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 144216504. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Seasons in Virginia: Year-round, migratory and summer
Breeding: Breeding
Counties in known range: 101 of 133
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

Southeast habitat models (USGS, 2001 land cover). The bird is not in every place a habitat occurs. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models Summer model Winter model

Habitats in Virginia 11

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. Shared habitat, not food.

1 of 11

Summer and winterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandDune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt MarshBrackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Summer and winterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian SystemsNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded SwampNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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.

Summer and winter

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.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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.

Summer and winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh

Other habitats in its models (43)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer and winter. Only within 60 m of water
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter

Model settings

Settings in the USGS model, not field measurements.

Summer model: Slow streams only
Winter model: Slow streams only

Habitat names: NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0.

Seasons in Virginia

Modeled range from USGS maps (2001), by watershed. Not sighting records. Migratory gives no dates. USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps

Year-round. Breeding and nonbreeding. Range includes 50 of 133 counties and cities
Migratory. Nonbreeding. Range includes 101 of 133 counties and cities
Summer. Breeding. Range includes 1 of 133 counties and cities

County or city