Secondary Species 
Marsh Fern 
Royal Fern 
Broadleaf Cattail 
Blue Cattail 
Giant Burreed 
Tus sock Sedge 
Sedge (Carez crinita) 
Sweetflag 
Smooth Alder 
Arrowleaf Tearthumb 
Common Burreed Coontail 
Ribbonleaf Pondweed Swamp Rose 
Common Waterweed Winterberry 
Wildcelery Waterparsnip 
Phragmites Silky Dogwood 
Swamp Milkweed 
Dodder 
Buttonbush 
Climbing Hempweed 
Common Spikerush 
Common Three-square 
Softstem Bulrush 
Woolgrass 
The major dominant plants are wildrice, 
river bulrush, pickerelweed, and spatterdock. 
Local variations in species composition 
appear to be correlated with differences in 
depth of water. Certain broad-leaved emer- 
gents, such as spatterdock, pickerelweed and 
arrow-arum are especially characteristic of 
the deeper portions of the marsh near open 
water. Many species, including rice cutgrass, 
Walter millet, river bulrush, dotted smart- 
weed, halberdleaftearthumb, tidemarsh water- 
hemp, jewelweed, and marsh beggartick are 
typical of shallow marginal areas. Wildrice 
in nearly pure stands, or in mixtures with 
various species, dominates the larger inter- 
vening sectors of intermediate depth. 
Typical brackish estuarine river marshes 
are quite extensive in the Upper Chesapeake 
region. The characteristic plants of brackish 
estuarine river marshes are: 
Primary Species 
Narrowleaf Cattail 
Big Cordgrass 
Switchgrass 
Olney Three-square 
Dotted Smartweed 
Rosemallow 
Secondary Species 
Grassleaf Pondweed Arrow-arum 
Common Waterweed Pickerelweed 
Saltgrass Swamp Dock 
Phragmites Atriplex 
Tidemarsh Waterhemp 
Saltmarsh Mallow 
Saltmarsh Cordgrass 
Saltmeadow Cordgrass 
Walter Millet Groundselbush 
Dwarf Spikerush Saltmarsh Fleabane 
Common Three-square Hightide-bush 
Twigrush 
Big cordgrass is dominant in nearly allareas. 
It may be in nearly pure stands or mixed 
with various subdominant plants. Stands of big 
cordgrass may be interspersed locally with 
plant associations dominated by narrowleaf 
cattail, Olney three-square, or switchgrass. 
Big cordgrass also is the dominant plant in 
areas that are intermediate between fresh 
and brackish marshes, In the areas of inter- 
19 
mediate salinity, the plants growing with big 
cordgrass are a mixture of fresh and brack- 
ish species, Small pockets of fresh marsh 
occur within many of the brackish marshes 
near the headwaters of the various tidal trib- 
utary streams. 
Birds Other Than Waterfowl 
Fresh estuarine river marshes are espe- 
cially famous for their large numbers of Sora 
in the fall. They also attract myriads of 
Bobolinks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common 
Snipes, and many other marsh-inhabiting birds. 
Typical brackish estuarine river marshes 
usually are comparatively barren of birdlife. 
Waterfowl 
Characteristic species of waterfowl in the 
estuarine river marshes during the spring 
and fall migration periods are: 
Primary Species 
Mallard Green-winged Teal 
Black Duck Blue-winged Teal 
Pintail Wood Duck 
Secondary Species 
Hooded Merganser 
Common Merganser 
American Coot 
Canada Goose 
American Widgeon 
Ring-necked Duck 
Species occasionally recorded as casual or 
irregular visitors include the Whistling Swan, 
Gadwall, Shoveler, Redhead, Common Golden- 
eye, and Ruddy Duck. 
Large numbers of dabbling ducks congregate 
in fall and spring because of the abundant 
food. Waterfowl usually are rather scarce in 
winter, probably because the marshes fre- 
quently freeze over. A few Wood Ducks nest 
along the wooded upland margins, and a few 
pairs of Black Ducks breed locally. 
The greatest concentrations of waterfowl are 
in areas that are intermediate between fresh 
and brackish types. These areas have excellent 
cover and abundant food. Fresh-water areas 
also have abundant food but little suitable cover. 
Brackish marshes have little food but ample 
cover. Only Black Ducks are most numerous 
in the brackish areas. 
Sample boat counts of transient and winter- 
ing waterfowl populations in estuarine river 
marshes are shown in table 13, Counts covered 
approximately 44 square miles of habitat. 
The gullet and gizzard food contents of 79 
waterfowl collected in estuarine river marshes 
during spring and fall were examined, Dotted 
smartweed (seeds) is the outstanding food 
plant. Other foods occasionally taken in fairly 
large amounts include the seeds of common 
