From Opus

Photo by Alan Manson
Photo taken: Cedara Farm, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Cisticola lais

[edit] 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.

[edit] Distribution

From Kenya west to Angola and south to eastern South Africa. A locally common resident.

[edit] Taxonomy

Cisticola lais has seven subspecies; the colour of the streaking on the upperparts varies and some populations are spotted below.^[1][2]

• C. l. namba

• Highlands of w Angola

• C. l. distinctus

• Highlands of e Uganda and central Kenya

• C. l. semifasciatus

• S Tanzania (Iringa Plateau) to Malawi, Zambia, n 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, Swaziland, Lesotho, Free State, and southern Mpumalanga

• C. l. maculatus

• Between George and Port Elizabeth on the southern South African coast
• The back is paler and greyer than that of the nominate, the breast is spotted, and the flanks streaked.

[edit] Habitat

Grassland with bracken and shrubs.

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. 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

• List of references

[edit] External Links