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- Cisticola aridulus
Identification
Length 10-12 cm, mass 4-13 g
Upper parts pale brown to buff with blackish streaks on the crown and back. Under parts whitish; breast, flanks and undertail coverts pale buff.
Similar Species
Similar to Zitting Cisticola but paler and the tail lacks a distinct dark subterminal bar.
Distribution
Arid to sub-humid parts of Africa.
Taxonomy
Cisticola aridulus has nine subspecies:[1]
- C. a. aridulus
- Southern Mauritania and Senegal east to Sudan
- C. a. lavendulae
- C. a. tanganyika
- C. a. lobito
- Coastal Angola
- C. a. traylori
- C. a. eremicus
- C. a. perplexus
- Northern Zambia (Bangweulu swamps)
- C. a. kalahari
- Central Namibia to southern Botswana and South Africa
- C. a. caliginus
- Extreme eastern South Africa, eSwatini and southern Mozambique
Habitat
Grassland and old fields.
Behaviour
Vocalisation
The call is more rapid than that of the Zitting Cisticola and is interspersed with wing-snaps. Alarm call: zit zit zitzit.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
- Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
- The larger illustrated guide to birds of southern Africa by Ian Sinclair, P. A. R. Hockey, Peter Hayman, Norman Arlott
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Desert Cisticola. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Desert_Cisticola
