Grass Wren

Grass Wren

Cistothorus platensis

Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Washington

In 3 days <5%

74 Verified sightings at Washington
4,005 In all 19 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Grass Wren

The grass wren (Cistothorus platensis) is a species of passerine bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is widely distributed in central and southern America. The grass wren was described in 1790 by the English ornithologist John Latham and given the binomial name Sylvia platensis. The type locality is Buenos Aires, Argentina. The current genus Cistothorus was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850.

The grass wren and the sedge wren (Cistothorus stellaris) were formerly treated as conspecific. They were split based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014. This split was accepted in 2018 by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World, in 2019 by the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), and in 2021 by the AOS North American Classification Committee and the Clements taxonomy. As of 2018 the fourth edition of the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World had not implemented the split. Taxonomic bodies recognize 17 subspecies of the grass wren.

The grass wren... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:10

Ecuador · 2026

© Daan van der Hoeven · XC1165274 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:19

Colombia · 2026

© Manuel Sánchez-Nivicela · XC1086811 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:18

Colombia · 2023

© David Monroy Rengifo · XC818048 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~30%
2 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
3 Chingaza National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~20%
4 Riding Mountain National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~20%
5 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
6 Torres del Paine National Park 🇨🇱 Chile
<5%
7 Tierra del Fuego National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
8 Voyageurs National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Padre Island National Seashore 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Nahuel Huapi National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
11 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
12 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
13 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
14 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
15 La Tigra National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
16 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
17 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
18 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
19 Farallones de Cali National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Quito 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
2 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
<5%
3 Chicago 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Houston 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
5 Dallas 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
6 San Antonio 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
7 Toronto 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
8 Minneapolis [Saint Paul] 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Orlando 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Washington 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Grass Wren in Washington?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grass Wren sighting in Washington on a given day, based on 74 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 219th most-seen of the 267 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Grass Wren in Washington?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grass Wren in Washington on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Grass Wren?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grass Wren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Washington the best place to see a Grass Wren?

Among the best

Of the 13 cities where we can rate Grass Wren sightings, Washington ranks 10th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Quito (Ecuador, under 5%), Mexico City (México, under 5%) and Chicago (United States, under 5%).

Where does the Grass Wren sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Grass Wren is recorded against all the birds logged in Washington (74 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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