Orange County Register

Catching sight of a marsh wren is a tough task even for experienced birders, who must visit their wet, reedy habitat for a closeup view.

Even then, the birds tend to flit about under cover, rarely coming into the open.

For all their innate shyness, however, marsh wrens can be the terror of local bird communities, invading nests and destroying eggs of rivals.

This time of year, Orange County is treated to a double helping of marsh wrens: a subspecies that breeds here and remains in southwest California year-round, and migratory visitors that appear in fall and winter (telling these very similar birds apart is likely a task better left to biologists).

The wrens are known for their prolific nest building – not just the architecture, a kind of football shape of woven reeds and grass, but also the many dummy nests the male marsh wren builds. In breeding season, the female chooses one of the nests and adds a lining, though she might even start from scratch and build yet another new nest.

Many wren species can be aggressive toward potential rivals for food or territory; for marsh wrens, it takes the form of home invasion. They will enter nests of other birds and peck holes in eggs – even those of other marsh wrens.

Patient birders seeking marsh wrens in their typical haunts – Newport Back Bay, Bolsa Chica or other coastal marshes – use a time-honored trick: making a “pish pish” sound and waiting for curious birds to emerge and investigate.

Eventually, if they’re lucky, the secretive marsh wren makes an appearance.

Scientific name: Cistothorus palustris (local subspecies, C.p. clarkae)
Sources: Biologist Douglas R. Willick; “The Birds of Orange County, California: Status and Distribution,” by Robert A. Hamilton and Douglas R. Willick; “The Lives of North American Birds,” by Kenn Kaufman.
Next week: Rainbow scorpionfish
Illustration by: Molly Zisk

Latest posts:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.