Striated field wren

Striated field wren
Image: Tim Collins
Community type

Saline shrubland

Habitat type

Saltmarsh and tidal flats

Striated field wrens are a small shy bird that are usually heard before they are seen. Their light brown feathers have dark ‘striations’ of flecks, providing good camouflage against the bushes and sedges where they live. Field wrens are best seen in the morning when they perch on top of shrubs and call to their mates before darting back into the bushes. They commonly inhabit low shrubby vegetation of coastal heathlands, sedgelands, tussocky grasslands, and margins of swamps. Fieldwrens are mainly insectivorous, eating spiders, and insects, from among the branches and leaves of bushes, or from the ground. They do also eat some seeds, notably from native Poa grasses. Fieldwrens hold small territories which they occupy year round, and breeding in Tasmania takes place in late spring and summer. They select well sheltered sites for nesting, such as at the base of dense shrubs or sedges.

Much of the text within the species area of our website was written by Veronica Thorpe, as part of the Derwent River Wildlife Guide (2000).

The DEP has developed a variety of classroom and outdoor activities focused around the key estuary habitats of tidal wetlands, salt marshes and rocky reefs. These include classroom materials, online resources, interpretive walks, games and sensory experiences.