- Cisticola lais
Inlcudes: Lynes's Cisticola
Identification
Length 13-14 cm, mass about 15 g
A grassland Cisticola with a long tail and streaked back.
Breeding adult (nominate race): The crown is rufous, streaked dark brown, and the mantle, back and rump are grey streaked blackish brown. The tail is tawny with a darker subterminal band and pale tip. The flight feathers are brown with russet edges which result in a russet bar on the closed wing. The underparts are buff, being darker on the breast and flanks.
The bill is horn, the eyes brown and the legs and feet pinkish.
Distribution
From Kenya west to Angola and south to eastern South Africa. A locally common resident.
Taxonomy
There are 8 subspecies; the colour of the streaking on the upperparts varies and some populations are spotted below.[1][2]
- C. l. namba
- Highlands of western Angola
- C. l. distinctus
- C. l. semifasciatus
- S Tanzania (Iringa Plateau) to Malawi, Zambia, northern Mozambique
- C. l. mashona
- Limpopo Province to the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe south of the Chimanimani Mountains
- C. l. oreobates
- Chimanimani Mountains and Mount Gorongosa (eastern Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique)
- C. l. monticola
- Highveld of north-eastern South Africa
- C. l. lais
- Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, eSwatini, Lesotho, Free State, and southern Mpumalanga
- C. l. maculatus
- Between George and Port Elizabeth on the southern South Africanorthern coast
- The back is paler and greyer than that of the nominate, the breast is spotted, and the flanks streaked.
Habitat
Grassland with bracken and shrubs.
Behaviour
Singly, in pairs, or in small family groups. Often perches on the top of shrubs or bracken, but forages low down in vegetation for insects.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Wailing Cisticola. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Wailing_Cisticola
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
