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Zitting Cisticola

Zitting Cisticola

Cisticola juncidis

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The Zitting Cisticola is a tiny, streaky brown grassland warbler of southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia and northern Australia. It is recognised by its warm rufous rump, short tail with white tips that it flicks often, and by the male's zigzagging display flight punctuated by metronomic “zit” calls. It weaves a neat, pouch-like nest inside a clump of living grass. It has spread northward in Europe in recent decades.

Did you know?

  • Its repetitive “zit” calls during a zigzagging display flight gave it its English name.
  • It sews the leaves of living grasses together with spider silk to hold its pouch-shaped nest.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A tiny, streaky warbler with a warm buff-brown, heavily streaked back, pale underparts and a short, rounded tail with black and white tips. It is best identified by its bouncing display flight and sharp, repeated “zit” call.

Family

Cisticolidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

brown, orange, white, black

About the habitat

Open grassland, cereal fields, rice fields and grassy wetlands, often near water.

Diet

Mainly small insects, spiders and other tiny invertebrates gleaned from grass and low vegetation.

Behaviour

Keeps low in grass; males perform undulating display flights, calling “zit” at each dip. Breeding is often tied to rains, with two broods in many areas. Males are usually polygynous; they build the nest frame, while females complete it and incubate. Most populations are resident but suffer in cold winters.

Sources

Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zitting cisticola 2024 04 19 (cropped).jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC731872, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/731872

Sound: Pascal Christe, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cisticola_juncidis_-_Zitting_Cisticola_XC586005.mp3

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zitting_cisticola

See also