Surely that has a longer tail, clearer rufous headLooks like a Levaillant cisticola
Immatures have shorter tails I believe, the red on the face and head seems to significant for cloud or wind-snapping I would have thought.Surely that has a longer tail, clearer rufous head
Just looking in the sasol app photos and it doesn't show extensive red as we see here for levaillants. It has a photo of a juvenile with even less rufous. Maybe ebird photos will prove me wrong, but I feel jizz is wrong for that species where even juvenile seems more elongateImmatures have shorter tails I believe, the red on the face and head seems to significant for cloud or wind-snapping I would have thought.
Edit- wind-snapping does seem like another good possibility however the tail length also seems wrong, from pictures the wind-snapping's tail seems too short in comparison with the cisticola in op's pic.
Not sure what you're deciding on here but I think this bird is a pretty clear Levaillant's. It's much too long-tailed for Wing-snapping or other short-tailed cisticolas. According to Chamberlain, their tail feathers should be shorter than the tertials. The tail feathers here are around 1.5x the length of the tertials, which is better for a long-tailed species. The extensive thick black streaks on the mantle and black centred greater coverts, as well as the fine streaking on the rump and rufous wing panel all point towards Levaillant's. Lots of pictures here:Just looking in the sasol app photos and it doesn't show extensive red as we see here for levaillants. It has a photo of a juvenile with even less rufous. Maybe ebird photos will prove me wrong, but I feel jizz is wrong for that species where even juvenile seems more elongate
Does not seem so according to the Ebird map.Is Grey-backed in range?
Think that one's not so dark on the back judging by photos. Also don't remember it beingDoes not seem so according to the Ebird map.
Assume ID is correct, it looks fine to me.Think that one's not so dark on the back judging by photos. Also don't remember it being
You can see back is greyer, paler than the op picAssume ID is correct, it looks fine to me.
grey backed cisticola - Bing
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I'm leaning towards Levaillant's, bill colour and structure, very pale underparts, why does it have white feather edges on the back?You can see back is greyer, paler than the op pic
Agreed, cloud-snapping would have buff feather edges on the back- while op's bird has pale/white feather edges on the back.I'm leaning towards Levaillant's, bill colour and structure, very pale underparts, why does it have white feather edges on the back?
The proportions I gave from Chamberlain are averages. On the same page there's a table showing how variable in length cisticola tails can be, particularly in the longer tailed species such as Levaillant's. Wing-snapping is mentioned as the shortest tailed species, on average.I've looked at ebird photos now and agree it must be levaillants.
I'd note, though, that wing-snapping's tail can be longer than stated in this thread. Look at ebird headline photo 2, for example, where tail roughly = wing length
There's also the ebird comment that tail length is longer in the non-breeding season (presumably short now)The proportions I gave from Chamberlain are averages. On the same page there's a table showing how variable in length cisticola tails can be, particularly in the longer tailed species such as Levaillant's. Wing-snapping is mentioned as the shortest tailed species, on average.