South African Cisticola (1 Viewer)

South African Cisticola (link to photo)

Recently, rudydbn posted the following photo of a Cisticola in the gallery:

http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php?photo=81397

It was photographed, quote: "near reeds and water in Eston which is 50Km inland from the coast of Durban" in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This locality combined with the very dark back pretty much limits the possibilities to two species; Winding Cisticola (Cisticola galactotes) and Tinkling/Levaillant's Cisticola (Cisticola tinniens). So, I am looking for any opinions on either of these two (or a third, in case I forgot any)...

third option could be Rufous-winged (Blackbacked) Cisticola.

Sorry did'nt pick up on the Latin Name of galactotes

My guess here is a Levaillant's Cisticola (Cisticola tinniens). With such a dark back it can really only be the for mentioned or Rufous-winged Cisticola (Cisticola galactotes). These birds are always difficult to id unless you hear them calling. Levaillant's is definitely the more common of the two species, and eventhough their habitat preferences are similar - Levaillant's prefers waterside sedges and the edges of reed-beds, where Rufous-winged prefers large waterways, with marshes and swamps.
Another difference between the two is the tail colour. R-w has a more greyer tail, where L has a definite reddish tail. Not easy to say for sure from the photo, but I would still say that it appears more reddish than grey.

Looks fine for Levaillant's.

Thanks for the comments. In the area where this individual was photographed the two species are, supposedly, both common, though the actual area of overlap is rather limited (Winding being found in a coastal strip, Tinkling/Levaillant's being found further inland; the centre of their overlap being just about exactly where this photo was taken). So, the "Third rule of Birding" is of very little help in this case. The rump would also have been useful (uniform in Winding, streaked in Tinkling/Levaillant's), but we can't really see it from this photo. Yes, I knew about the tail but was hesitant about using it in anything but obvious cases, as non-br. Winding (or Rufous-winged/Black-backed if you prefer) can have quite brown tails - there's a perfect example of this in Ian Sinclair's photographic Field Guide to the Birds of South Africa. However, looking closely at photos it seems that non-br. Winding have a rather similar pattern on all the tail-feathers, contrary to Tinkling/Levaillant's which seem to have dark central rectrices and brown outer ones (i.e. as the bird in this photo). I do not know if this actually is a useful feature, but as said - the photos I checked seem to support it. Likewise, the largely black mantle with relatively little of the pale streaks showing through also suggests Tinkling/Levaillant's rather than Winding/Rufous-winged/Black-backed where the pale streaks usually are broader and more obvious. So, I'd vote on Tinkling/Levaillant's too, but would still be pleased to hear it if anyone has any further comments.

Hi Rasmus,

Obviously, one has to be a little careful when viewing photos of these 2 species as, in Southern Africa, we have 3 recognised subspecies of C. tinniens and 2 of C. galactotes which can all show slight variation in the plumage details. Fortunately, where this bird was photographed, only the nominates of each species occurs, so it makes things slightly easier.

You are quite correct in being a little suspicious of the tail colour issue as non-breeding galactotes can certainly show a browner tail even tending towards rufous.

However, with galactotes in this sort of plumage, one would expect quite an obvious rich buff wash on the underparts, particularly on the flanks and the bird in the photo is not showing that. In galactotes, the rectrices are generally tipped with obvious white whilst in tinniens, they are tipped in buff. I don't believe these tips are white, but I suppose colour is often a perception issue.

Your comments on the back are also valid and I would support those for tinniens. Looking at the iris, it appears quite dark brown whereas in galactotes, it should be a paler hazel colour.

I would certainly be happy calling this tinniens and can find nothing in the photo that makes me think otherwise.

Kind Regards
Trevor

Thanks Trevor et al. I've always been pretty hesitant when it comes to silent Cisticola's, but it seems we've managed to nail this one.