- Cistothorus platensis
Includes: Grass Wren
Identification
10-12cm. Brown upperparts, light brown belly and flanks, white throat and breast. The back has pale streaks. Dark cap with pale streaks, a faint line over the eye and a short thin bill. Sexes alike. Very hard to see, much easier to locate by sound.
Distribution
Photo by Ecuadorrebel
Photo taken: Cotopaxi, Ecuador, September 2010.
USA and Canada: Main breeding range in the U.S. from North Dakota and southern Manitoba east to southwestern Ontario and Michigan south to eastern Nebraska east to Indiana. Localized in Ohio, New York, Vermont and New Jersey. Winters in eastern Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida.
Central America: from Mexico to western Panama.
South America: In the north limited to mountain ranges, but in the southern cone more widespread; also found in the Falkland Islands.
Taxonomy
There are numerous subspecies. These can be devided into two main groups which sometimes are considered as separate species: The Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris) from North America and the Grass Wren (Cistothorus platensis) from South America.
Alternatively[1], the species can be divided into several subgroups which require additional research: stellaris from USA and Canada, the Middle America group from Mexico to western Panama, the polyglottus group from the Andes and other mountains in northern South America, the platensis group of Argentina and Chile, and the falklandicus group from the Falkland Islands.
Habitat
Photo by StrikingSlug
Photo taken: Bertha's Beach, East Falkland, Falkland Islands, November 2009.
Click on image to see larger version
Wet meadows and marsh edges.
Behaviour
The male builds the nest which is rounded, with a side entrance, well hidden, and attached to low vegetation. 2-8 white eggs are laid.
The diet includes insects and spiders.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
