Wren confusion

[Cloebird 40]

This wren was seen north of Belle Plaine, SK in August 2018. It’s either a little scruffy or young? The bill looks long and straight. The pictures are a little greyer in cast but the wren wasn’t a dark brown either. The habitat was compatible to sedge. No pines/evergreens. Do you consider the tail too long for a Sedge Wren?

[Nighthawk01 162]

Looks good.

[sfinmt 24]

The flank markings and the white flecks along the edge of the wing look more like Winter Wren.

[Cloebird 40]

Thank you for your responses. I was wanting to ask if the tail was too long for a Winter Wren but was talking about the sedge plants so confused the two wrens. 

[blackburnian 156]

I’m struggling with this bird. Why isn’t it a House Wren?  I’m torn between House and Winter. 

Edited December 7, 2018 by blackburnian

[egosnell2002 53]

Yeah looks like a scruffy House to me.

[Cloebird 40]

Yes I was wondering about the white flecks along the edge of the wing. I have seen other photos of Winter Wren with that marking. And I’m still learning. But we all agree, it’s scruffy!

[egosnell2002 53]

Do you mean the white speckles near the shoulder? Like towards the front of the bird? Those are pin feathers it looks like, which means it's mostly likely done a partial molt, for what reason I don't know!

[Cloebird 40]

I was looking at the white specskles along the edge/side of the wing. I saw a photo with that on a Winter Wren but maybe it’s not characteristic. 

[egosnell2002 53]

51 minutes ago, Cloebird said:

I was looking at the white specskles along the edge/side of the wing. I saw a photo with that on a Winter Wren but maybe it’s not characteristic. 

Oh ok. I guess that sort of is a feature, but on winter there's a lot more white. I tend to go off giss (general impression of size and shape), colour and tail. Winter's are very compact and round, with a tiny tail that's often cocked up, overall winter are much darker as well. Sedge is cleaner above and below, and they have fine streaking running lengthwise down their back. Instead of brown, I find them to be more of a light straw colour, which is pretty uniform across their whole body, except some pretty clean white on the underparts. Sometimes Marsh and Sedge can a be a little tricky to separate, but Sedge is much lighter, and shows different back patterning, and a less bolded supercilium. Once you get the hang of it, wrens aren't so bad. Hope this helped for the future!

[Cloebird 40]

Yes. That’s so helpful. Your experience and observations are so appreciated. 

[birdbrain22 55]

House Wren for me.