Red-faced Cisticola ( Cisticola erythrops, family: Cisticolidae)

red faced cisticola kruger national park birds The Red-faced Cisticola (Latin name Cisticola erythrops) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 674 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 824 also a picture of the Red-faced Cisticola on page 865. The Red-faced Cisticola belongs to the family of birds classified as Cisticolidae.

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 Red-faced Cisticola is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

The Red-faced 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 Red-faced 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 Red-faced Cisticola is about 14 cms and its weight is about 15 gms

The male and female Red-faced Cisticola have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is red.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is grey.
  • Back is red, olive.
  • Legs are pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Red-faced Cisticola feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Nectar

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Red-faced Cisticola is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Cisticola erythrops will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Red-faced 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 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Red-faced Cisticola are: wetlands and riverine areas . The Red-faced Cisticola is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You can expect to see Red-faced Cisticola in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Rooiwangtinktinkie

German ... Rotgesicht-Zistensnger

Portuguese ... Fuinha-de-faces-vermelhas

French ... Cisticole face rousse

Dutch ... Roodmasker-Graszanger

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 674

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