Cattail Stand
from Ducks Unlimited's Puddler magazine Summer 2000

Let's take a closer look...

Cattails make great nesting spots for songbirds like this marsh wren. The marsh wren weaves a cup-shaped nest among the cattails' spikes. One male marsh wren has several female partners. Each female builds her own nest. By this time of year, the young have left the nest to live on their own.

The American bittern is a wading bird in the heron family. It's very shy and spends most of its time hiding among tall plants like cattails. Something has frightened this bittern. Instead of taking flight, it freezes. The bittern points its bill toward the sky. Can you see how its neck feathers are patterned with black stripes? As the bittern slowly sways from side to side, its striped neck appears like waving plant stems.

These eggs were laid by a green frog. They are covered by a jelly-like slime that helps them stick to the cattail stems. The black shapes inside are developing tadpoles. When the tadpoles hatch, they will hide among the cattails to stay safe while they grow.

This muskrat is digging up a cattail tuber to eat. It also visits the cattail stand to cut down cattail stems. The muskrat uses the stems as building materials for its home, called a lodge. The lodge is a hollowed-out pile of cattails built near shore.

Cattails are common plants in many freshwater wetlands. You're looking at a cattail stand along the edge of a Wisconsin marsh. These grass-like plants grow six to eight feet tall. Each one has a fuzzy brown tip called a spike.

Cattails are found in water a few feet deep. About half their stem is underwater. Cattails grow close together, forming great hiding places for many animals. And cattails themselves are important sources of food.

These mallard ducklings are looking for insects to eat. They moved from their nest into the water when just a few days old. The ducklings will stay close to their mother, who also finds food among the cattails.

This fish is called a bluegill. It is one of many kinds of fish that like to hide among the shadows of the cattail stems. The bluegill is usually safe here. However, it's dangerously close to the snapping turtle hiding below!

A snapping turtle has settled down in the mud beneath the cattail stand. The snapper is waiting for something to swim or crawl within reach of its powerful jaws.