The bird's song is similar to that of the house wren, in that it is high-pitched and loud, described as a "musical warble preceded by guttural note, given in series of three or four phrases.

The Zapata wren's habitat is typically freshwater marsh and lowland savanna with scattered bushes and low trees.

Typical threats are fires in the dry season, drainage of the wetlands, destruction due to agriculture, and predation by introduced mongooses and rats.

The Zapata wren was formally described by American herpetologist Thomas Barbour,[2] who gave it the specific name cerverai in honour of the wren's discoverer, Fermín Zanón Cervera, a Spaniard who had stayed on after the Spanish–American War and become a professional naturalist.

Barbour had been accompanied by Cervera on his previous visits to Cuba, and on hearing of the strange birds to be found in the Zapata area, he sent the Spaniard on a series of trips into the region, eventually leading to the finding of the wren.