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African expert needed (1 Viewer)

Looks like a Cisticola & I would second Alastair's suggestion of C. cantans Singing Cisticola.
Nice image by the way, cisticolas are not the easiest of birds to photograph. :t:
 
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Looks like a breeding plumage Red-faced Cisticola, Cisticola erythrops. This bill is
probably too long for Singing Cisticola. The latter has a lore stripe, brown ear,
and would probably be more boldly patterned than this bird. The vegetation seen
here looks like riverside scrub, habitat of Red-faced.
 
Docmartin said:
Are you doing this to annoy me? Sure I already id'd this one, and your Tawny-flanked Prinia, on earlier threads.

Hi Doc

If I remember, your answer was "My best guess is Tawny-flanked Prinia (Plain Prinia) Prinia subflava, but they're so boring I can't remember what they look like" hardly conclusive was it ?

tf
 
tf1044x said:
Sorry guys, not very convincing with four out of five different answers, but thanks anyway.
Mos's reply is quite convincing, actually.

Another vote for Cisticola erythrops.

-Adam
 
cuckooroller said:
tf,
Not Heliolais, not C. cantans. It is certainly a Cisticola sp. Where exactly in Gambia, and what kind of habitat?

Hi Steve,

I was staying in a place called Brufut, I was walking around locally on the first evening I arrived, this was, with what I assumed to be its mate and was singing from one of the top branches of a bush, it was in a overgrown compound and as far as I could see there was no water near.
Hope this helps
tf
 
Based on tf's above reply, I have to retrace. Red-faced won't occur away from
water but Red-winged Warbler would, and there are hardly any alternatives to
consider.

After examining some photos on the web and in books I arrived at the conclusion
that breeding Red-faced retains some rufous on the ear and supercilium when
changing to the greyer breeding plumage. The bird in the photo would then be
Heliolais, and is identical to a previous photograph posted by tf.

The two species (different genusses) are nevertheless remarkably similar, even
to the colour of the bare parts: eye, bill and legs.

The following web pages have photographs of these two species. The two Red-
winged Warblers were also photographed in The Gambia.

Red-faced Cisticola
http://www.mangoverde.com/wbg/picpages/pic139-1-1.html

Red-winged Warbler
http://www.worldbirder.com/photonew/xpages/photo.asp?PhotoID=128
http://www.mangoverde.com/wbg/picpages/pic139-76-1.html
 
Mos said:
Based on tf's above reply, I have to retrace. Red-faced won't occur away from
water but Red-winged Warbler would, and there are hardly any alternatives to
consider.

So I could have been right after all then?

Whoo hoo!!

Seriously though, it looks very much like a bird I saw in The Gambia in December recently.
 
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Brufut consists of open mature woodland with scrub & secondary growth; there is also a small permanent course of freshwater nearby as well as small (women's) gardens & the village compounds. The whole area encompasses a few differernt habitats that would reasonably be expected to hold a few species of Cisticola.
C cantans, ruficeps & lateralis have all been seen there -probably along with other species.
The habitat, hearing the bird call, & the appearance are all taken into account in reaching an accurate ID with Cisticolas so I suppose we will struggle with this single (albeit good) image.
 
Steve G said:
Brufut consists of open mature woodland with scrub & secondary growth; there is also a small permanent course of freshwater nearby as well as small (women's) gardens & the village compounds. The whole area encompasses a few differernt habitats that would reasonably be expected to hold a few species of Cisticola.
C cantans, ruficeps & lateralis have all been seen there -probably along with other species.
The habitat, hearing the bird call, & the appearance are all taken into account in reaching an accurate ID with Cisticolas so I suppose we will struggle with this single (albeit good) image.

Hi Steve,

I do appreciate how difficult these birds are to sort out. When I said Brufut, I meant in the village itself, near the new TAF houses if you know where they are. Close by the main road on the coast
 
Given the place (Brufut -The Gambia), habitat (overgrown village compound) & the fact it seems to have almost chestnut-coloured panels on the wings I think this is Whistling Cisticola (C. lateralis).
On a separate note did you stay in Brufut tf1044x? & Have they managed to get proper hides sorted, with a 'gatekeepers' hut & decent waterholes?
 
Steve G said:
Given the place (Brufut -The Gambia), habitat (overgrown village compound) & the fact it seems to have almost chestnut-coloured panels on the wings I think this is Whistling Cisticola (C. lateralis).
On a separate note did you stay in Brufut tf1044x? & Have they managed to get proper hides sorted, with a 'gatekeepers' hut & decent waterholes?

Steve

There is only one hide, it looks over the waterhole. I must admit, it is not very good and is very noisy when you move about at all. They have made a couple of circles of concrete which they put water in. When I was there, only one had water. There is a gatekeepers hut and a place to sit in the shade, also there are a few cold drinks on sale.
I found it very pleasant, and visited it on several occasions. I have written a trip report, if you want to have a look, it can be found on the site below.

http://www.travellingbirder.com/tripreports/view_birding_tripreport.php?id=42
 
Hi Trev. Thanks for the reply & link to a great report.
I was in The Gambia for 2 weeks in late Nov-early Dec. Like you we went up to Georgetown but did a fair bit of the trip by boat -the section of river between Kuntaur & Georgetown is stunningly beautiful with lots of good birds including African Finfoot, Black Coucal, African Pygmy Goose,etc. My wife isn't a birder & as the upriver trip involved a bit of rough we spent the second week at Makasutu which proved to be a real birding revelation > Green-headed Sunbird, Finfoot, White-backed Night Heron & lots of raptors (including Martial Eagles over the swimming pool!) amongst many other goodies. Some of the pictures are in my gallery & some of the details re Makasutu can be seen @ www.gambiabirding.org/sight.html#Makasutuaut05
 
Steve G said:
Hi Trev. Thanks for the reply & link to a great report.
I was in The Gambia for 2 weeks in late Nov-early Dec. Like you we went up to Georgetown but did a fair bit of the trip by boat -the section of river between Kuntaur & Georgetown is stunningly beautiful with lots of good birds including African Finfoot, Black Coucal, African Pygmy Goose,etc. My wife isn't a birder & as the upriver trip involved a bit of rough we spent the second week at Makasutu which proved to be a real birding revelation > Green-headed Sunbird, Finfoot, White-backed Night Heron & lots of raptors (including Martial Eagles over the swimming pool!) amongst many other goodies. Some of the pictures are in my gallery & some of the details re Makasutu can be seen @ www.gambiabirding.org/sight.html#Makasutuaut05


Hi Steve,

Read your excellant report, Makasutu sounds like a good place to visit, no doubt I will be going to Gambia again, that place is now certainly on my list for a future visit.
 
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