Grey-backed Cisticola
A species of Cisticolas, Also known as Greyback Cisticola Scientific name : Cisticola subruficapilla Genus : Cisticolas
Grey-backed Cisticola, A species of Cisticolas
Also known as:
Greyback Cisticola
Botanical name: Cisticola subruficapilla
Genus: Cisticolas
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Alan Manson , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
The grey-backed cisticola is a small, 13–14 cm long, vocal, dull-coloured bird with a dark rufous crown to its reddish head. It has a rufous panel in the folded wing. The grey bill is short and straight, and the feet and legs are pinkish-brown. The eye is light brown. The southern form, "grey-backed cisticola" proper, found in southern Namibia and South Africa has a grey back heavily streaked with black. Its underparts are greyish white. Although cisticolas can be very similar in plumage, this greyish subspecies is quite distinctive. The northern subspecies has a brown back heavily streaked with black and cold buff underparts. It is very similar to the wailing cisticola, Cisticola lais, of eastern South Africa, but that species has warmer buff underparts and does not overlap in range. The sexes are similar, but juvenile birds are duller with a yellow face. The call of the grey-backed cisticola is a soft prrrrt followed by a sharp wheee phweee. 
Size
13 cm
Nest Placement
Shrub
Feeding Habits
Grey-backed Cisticola predominantly consumes insects and invertebrates such as beetles, ants, termites, caterpillars, grasshoppers, cicadas, flies, and spiders, supplementing its diet occasionally with seeds and berries. Grey-backed Cisticola typically forages alone, in pairs, or with family, searching low in shrubs and on the ground.
Habitat
The grey-backed Cisticola is typically found in shrubland habitats, which encompass environments such as renosterveld, various fynbos types, and open strandveld. It also inhabits semi-arid shrublands, dune scrub, and areas along drainage lines with abundant grasses and sedges. These regions are characteristic of shrub-dominant landscapes that provide suitable cover and foraging opportunities.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The grey-backed cisticola builds a ball-shaped nest with a side entrance from dry grass, cobwebs and felted plant down. It 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 820,000 km². 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
Grey-backed Cisticola 
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