Cisticola is a genus of small insectivorous birds formerly classified in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, but now usually considered to be in the separate family Cisticolidae, along with other tropical and southern warbler genera. The name is used as both the scientific and vernacular names; it can be pronounced either kis-ti-cola (classical Latin) or sis-tic-ola (ecclesiastical Latin). Genetic data suggests the family is quite closely related to the swallows and martins, the bulbuls, and the white-eyes. The genus contains over 50 species, of which only two are not found in Africa, one in Madagascar and the other from Asia to Australasia. They are also sometimes called fan-tailed warblers due to their habit of conspicuously flicking their tails, or tailor-birds because of their nests.
Taxonomy The genus was described by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829. The type species, Sylvia cisticola by tautonymy, is now treated as a subspecies of Cisticola juncidis. The name Cisticola is from Ancient Greek κίσθος kisthos or κίστος kistos, "rock-rose (Cistus)", and Latin colere, "to dwell".
Range and habitat Cisticolas are widespread through the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World. Africa, which is home to almost all of the species, is the most likely ancestral home of the group. Cisticolas are usually non-migratory with most species attached to (and often distinguishable by) their habitats.
A variety of open habitats are occupied. These include wetlands, moist or drier grasslands, open or rocky mountain slopes, and human-modified habitats such as road verges, cultivation, weedy areas or pasture. The species preferring wetlands can be found at the edges of mangrove, or in papyrus, common reed, or typha swamps. Cisticolas are generally quite common within what remains of their preferred habitats.
The zitting cisticola (or fan-tailed warbler) is widespread throughout the Old World tropics and also breeds in southern Europe. It has been spreading northwards in western Europe with the warming climate, and has occurred on a few occasions as a vagrant to England, with breeding recorded there for the first time in 2025.
Description Cisticolas are small (from 9–17 cm) and with brown plumage; they may be either streaked dark brown on lighter brown above, or more plainly uniform brown above. The underparts are paler, usually whitish or buff. The tails are distinctively short in several species. Because of their small size and often skulking, they are generally more easily heard than seen, except when singing in flight. Several have more brightly coloured crowns, orange-brown to golden, to (rarely) white. The similar plumage of many species can make them hard to identify, particularly in winter when they seldom emerge from the vegetation. Many African species, in particular, are difficult to distinguish other than by their calls. Fourteen species are named from their calls or songs, from "singing" and "chirping" to "bubbling", "croaking", "rattling", "siffling", "tinkling", "trilling", "wailing", and "zitting". The sexes are largely alike in plumage or with small differences mainly in the bill colour and amount of streaking on the head, but many show sexual dimorphism in size, with the males heavier than the females.
The smallest is tiny cisticola at 9–10 cm long and 5–10 g weight, the largest is croaking cisticola at 13–17 cm long and 12–29 g (male 16–29 g, female 12–18 g) weight.
Behaviour Male cisticolas are polygamous. The female builds a discreet nest deep in the grasses, often binding living leaves into the soft fabric of felted plant down, cobweb, and grass: a cup shape for the zitting cisticola with a canopy of tied-together leaves or grasses overhead for camouflage, a full dome for the golden-headed cisticola. The average clutch is about 4 eggs, which take about 2 weeks to hatch.
In summer, male cisticolas of smaller species make spectacular display flights while larger species perch in prominent places to sing lustily. Despite its size and well-camouflaged, brown-streaked plumage, the male golden-headed cisticola of Australia and southern Asia produces a small, brilliant splash of golden-yellow colour in the dappled sunlight of a reed bed.
The parasitic weaver is a specialist brood parasite of cisticolas and the related prinias.
List of species The genus contains 53 species:
Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Red-faced cisticola Cisticola erythrops Sub-Saharan Africa (except southern and Horn of Africa) Singing cisticola Cisticola cantans Sub-Saharan Africa Whistling cisticola Cisticola lateralis African tropical rainforest Trilling cisticola Cisticola woosnami Zambia, Tanzania, DR Congo, western Kenya Chattering cisticola Cisticola anonymus central Africa Bubbling cisticola Cisticola bulliens western Angola Hunter's cisticola Cisticola hunteri Kenya and northern Tanzania Chubb's cisticola Cisticola chubbi Western High Plateau and Albertine rift montane forests Kilombero cisticola Cisticola bakerorum Tanzania Black-lored cisticola Cisticola nigriloris Tanzania Rock-loving cisticola Cisticola aberrans Sub-Saharan Africa - Huambo cisticola Cisticola bailunduensis Angola Rattling cisticola Cisticola chiniana Sub-Saharan Africa (except western and southern Africa) Boran cisticola Cisticola bodessa Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya Churring cisticola Cisticola njombe Tanzania and northern Malawi Ashy cisticola Cisticola cinereolus East Africa - Tana River cisticola Cisticola restrictus Kenya Tinkling cisticola Cisticola rufilatus central-southern Africa Grey-backed cisticola Cisticola subruficapilla Namibia and South Africa Wailing cisticola Cisticola lais southern and eastern Afromontane Lynes's cisticola Cisticola distinctus Kenya Rufous-winged cisticola Cisticola galactotes southeastern Africa Winding cisticola Cisticola marginatus north/central Sub-Saharan Africa Coastal cisticola Cisticola haematocephalus coastal East Africa White-tailed cisticola Cisticola anderseni Tanzania Ethiopian cisticola Cisticola lugubris Ethiopia Luapula cisticola Cisticola luapula Zambia and adjacent areas Chirping cisticola Cisticola pipiens Zambia, Angola and southern DR Congo Carruthers's cisticola Cisticola carruthersi Rwenzori and northern Lake Victoria region Levaillant's cisticola Cisticola tinniens southern Sub-Saharan Africa Stout cisticola Cisticola robustus western and eastern Afromontane Aberdare cisticola Cisticola aberdare Kenya Croaking cisticola Cisticola natalensis Sub-Saharan Africa Red-pate cisticola Cisticola ruficeps Lake Chad to Eritrea and northern Uganda Dorst's cisticola Cisticola guinea western Africa Tiny cisticola Cisticola nana East Africa Short-winged cisticola Cisticola brachypterus Sub-Saharan Africa (except southern Africa) Rufous cisticola Cisticola rufus western Africa Foxy cisticola Cisticola troglodytes western CAR to Ethiopia Neddicky Cisticola fulvicapilla southern half of Sub-Saharan Africa Long-tailed cisticola Cisticola angusticauda Zambia and Tanzania Black-tailed cisticola Cisticola melanurus northern Angola and south-western DRC Zitting cisticola Cisticola juncidis Afrotropics, southern Palearctic and northern Australia Socotra cisticola Cisticola haesitatus Socotra Madagascar cisticola Cisticola cherina Seychelles and Madagascar Desert cisticola Cisticola aridulus Arid regions of Sub-Saharan Africa Cloud cisticola Cisticola textrix Angola, western Zambia and southern Africa Black-backed cisticola Cisticola eximius sparsely present across the Sudan (region), the Congo and western Kenya Dambo cisticola Cisticola dambo the Congo, southern DRC, northern Angola and Zambia Pectoral-patch cisticola Cisticola brunnescens Adamawa Massif, Gabon, the Congo and highlands of East Africa Pale-crowned cisticola Cisticola cinnamomeus the Congo, Tanzania to eastern South Africa Wing-snapping cisticola Cisticola ayresii highlands of southern Africa Golden-headed cisticola Cisticola exilis Indomalaya and western Oceania
References
Further reading Nguembock B.; Fjeldsa J.; Tillier A.; Pasquet E. (2007): A phylogeny for the Cisticolidae (Aves: Passeriformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data, and a re-interpretation of a unique nest-building specialization. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 42: 272–286. Ryan, Peter (2006). Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies). Pp. 378–492 in del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie D.A. (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers Lynx Edicions, Barcelona
External links Cisticola videos on the Internet Bird Collection