"Cisticolas", Kenya (1 Viewer)

[opisska]

Now I am getting on a bit of thin ice - aware that I may be making a fool of myself, I separated some more, but also less obvious "cisticolas". Yes, I know audio is better, but it's relatively hard to get while on a car safari, especially when you car refuses to shut up ...

1 - Lake Naivasha
2,3 - Masai Mara
4 - between Samburu and Meru
5 - Mwea (between Mt. Kenya and Tsavo)

 

[MacNara]

Hi Jan:

No-one else answered, so I'll give it a shot. I hope then someone will come along with a second opinion.

I think 1 and 5 are straightforward Winding Cisticola.

If I had taken the photos, I would have put 2 down as just Rattling, but without other views I am not sure.

I think 4 might be Croaking - I've never seen this, but from 'the books' this looks like the only possibility.

I think 3 is Zitting Cisticola. I've only seen this once in Africa, but they are common near my house in Japan. There seem to be some ssp differences, but the attached photo I took looks just like your bird 3 to me.

PS: Apologies for mis-spelling your online name in other threads!

 

[opisska]

Thanks!

There are some more photos of 2 - Cisticolas (Genus Cisticola) - but not very different angles ...

Good looking IDs! Apart from Zitting these are all species we already claim from the trip, so we could have guessed them, but it's just ... tricky. Zitting is a familiar bird for us Europeans, but I find it difficult to say for sure from this angle ...

 

[MacNara]

There are some more photos of 2 - Cisticolas (Genus Cisticola) - but not very different angles ...

Good looking IDs! Apart from Zitting these are all species we already claim from the trip, so we could have guessed them, but it's just ... tricky. Zitting is a familiar bird for us Europeans, but I find it difficult to say for sure from this angle ...

I looked at your other photos on Flickr, and it looks fine for Rattling to me.

As for the Zitting, if you're not sure, what else do you think it could be?