From Opus

Photo by Alan Manson
Location: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Alternative name: Lazy Cisticola

Cisticola aberrans

[edit] Identification

Length 13-15 cm, mass about 14 g. Crown and nape russet; face, lores and eyebrow off-white; ear coverts brown. Back and rump olive-grey, wings brown. Underparts buff, paler on throat and lower belly, and darker on flanks. Bill dark horn with pinkish base, eyes brown, and legs and feet pinkish. Important distinguishing features are the long tail (carried higher than other Cisticolas), plain back, and pale eyebrow.

[edit] Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

Cisticola aberrans has eight subspecies:¹

• C. a. admiralis

• Guinea to Sierra Leone, Mali and southern Ghana

• C. a. petrophilus

• Northern Nigeria to western Cameroon, north-eastern Zaire and south-western Sudan

• C. a. bailunduensis

• Central Angola

• C. a. emini

• Southern Kenya to northern Tanzania

• C. a. nyika

• South-western Tanzania to Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique

• C. a. lurio

• Malawi (east of Rift Valley) and adjacent north-western Mozambique

• C. a. aberrans

• North-eastern South Africa and south eastern Botswana

• C. a. minor

• Lowlands of southern Mozambique to south-eastern Swaziland and south-eastern South Africa

C. a. emini is split as a separate species by Sibley & Monroe⁴ and Gill & Wright². They name this taxon C. emini, Rock-loving Cisticola, and the remaining subspecies are C. aberrans, Lazy Cisticola.

[edit] Habitat

Woodland, thicket and rocky hillsides.

[edit] Behaviour

Usually found singly or in pairs; sometimes in small family groups. Forages in rocks or rank vegetation for insects. This species generally frequents areas with good cover, but is inquisitive and is fairly easily seen as it often uses fairly exposed perches when disturbed.

[edit] References

1. Clements JF. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
2. Gill F & Wright M. 2008. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, USA. 2006. ISBN 9780691128276 Update (2008) downloaded from http://worldbirdnames.org/names.html.
3. Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ & Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Robert's Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edition. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 0620340533
4. Sibley CG & Monroe BL. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.

[edit] External Links