Piping Cisticola
A species of Cisticolas Scientific name : Cisticola fulvicapilla Genus : Cisticolas
Piping Cisticola, A species of Cisticolas
Botanical name: Cisticola fulvicapilla
Genus: Cisticolas
Content
Description General Info
Description
The neddicky is a small, vocal, dull-coloured brown bird, 11 cm in length. Its tail is not as short as that of some other cisticola species. This bird has a reddish cap and a plain back. The underparts are buff, darker in tone on the breast. The brown bill is short and straight, and the feet and legs are pinkish-brown. The eye is light brown. The sexes are similar, but juvenile birds are yellower. The southern form, found in the southern parts of South Africa, has the face and underpart plumage grey, with the back plumage greyish brown. As opposed to most cisticolas which are very similarly plumaged, this trio of greyish plumaged subspecies stands out as quite distinctive. The call of the neddicky is a monotonous, penetrating, repetitive weep weep weep. The alarm call is a loud clicking tictictictic, like a fingernail running across the teeth of a comb.
Size
11 cm
Nest Placement
Shrub
Feeding Habits
Piping Cisticola primarily feed on insects, such as beetles, termites, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, along with spiders, nectar, seeds, and grass fragments. They forage alone or in small groups, using darting movements on the ground and gleaning prey from plants.
Habitat
The piping Cisticola is primarily found in varied open woodlands, such as broadleaf and acacia savannas, as well as thickets. Adaptable to secondary growth and scrubby forest margins, they inhabit environments with dense undergrowth, often on sandy soils. The species ranges from sea level up to altitudes of 2500 meters, roosting in dense bushes.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The neddicky builds a ball-shaped nest with a side entrance from dry grass, cobwebs and felted plant down. The nest is placed low in a thorny shrub, or in thick grass. In South Africa, this bird breeds mainly from September to March. The neddicky is usually seen in pairs or singly, flitting in a bush or the grass at the base of a tree as it forages for small insects.
Species Status
This common species has a large range, with an estimated extent of 4,100,000 km. The population size is believed to be large, and the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as least concern.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Cisticolas and allies Genus
Cisticolas Species
Piping Cisticola