Levaillant's Cisticola ( Cisticola tinniens, family: Cisticolidae)

levaillants cisticola kruger national park birds The Levaillant's Cisticola (Latin name Cisticola tinniens) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 677 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 834 also a picture of the Levaillant's Cisticola on page 912. The Levaillant's Cisticola belongs to the family of birds classified as Cisticolidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Levaillant's Cisticola is also known by these other names: Tinkling Cisticola, Lesser Black-backed Cisticola.

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

Levallients Cisticola Kruger National ParkThe Levaillant's Cisticola is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

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 Levaillant's 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 Levaillant's Cisticola is about 15 cms and its weight is about 12 gms

The male and female Levaillant's Cisticola have the same plumage and colours

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Levaillant's Cisticola feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Levaillant's Cisticola is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Cisticola tinniens will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Levaillant's Cisticola is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are blue in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Levaillant's Cisticola are: wetlands and riverine areas . The Levaillant's Cisticola is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You can see Levaillant's Cisticola in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Imvila/Umvila

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Vleitinktinkie

German ... Uferzistensnger

Portuguese ... Fuinha-zunidora

French ... Cisticole sonnette

Dutch ... Vallei-Graszanger

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 677

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