Rattling Cisticola ( Cisticola chiniana, family: Cisticolidae)

rattling cisticola kruger national birds The Rattling Cisticola (Latin name Cisticola chiniana) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 672 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 827 also a picture of the Rattling Cisticola on page 912. The Rattling Cisticola belongs to the family of birds classified as Cisticolidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Rattling Cisticola is also known by these other names: Bushveld Grass Warbler.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Rattling Cisticola is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Rattling Cisticola in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Rattling Cisticola : see above distribution map.

The Rattling Cisticola.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Rattling Cisticola is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Rattling Cisticola is about 16 cms and its weight is about 15 gms

The male and female Rattling Cisticola have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white, grey.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are purple.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Rattling Cisticola feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Rattling Cisticola is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Cisticola chiniana will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Rattling Cisticola is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Rattling Cisticola are: woodlands

You can expect to see Rattling Cisticola in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... iNqoba

Afrikaans ...Bosveldtinktinkie

German ... Rotscheitel-Zistensnger

Portuguese ... Fuinha-chocalheira

French ... Cisticole grinante

Dutch ... Ratelgraszanger

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 672

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za