Rock-loving Cisticola

About the Rock-loving Cisticola

The rock-loving cisticola (Cisticola aberrans), also known as the lazy cisticola, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa and is usually associated with rocky wooded terrain with interspersed patchy grass tussocks. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Huambo cisticola (Cisticola bailunduensis).

The rock-loving cisticola was formally described and illustrated in 1843 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith under the binomial name Drymoica aberrans based on specimens collected near "Port Natal" (now Durban) in South Africa. The specific epithet is from Latin aberrans, aberrantis meaning "deviating" or "aberrant". The rock-loving cisticola is now one of 53 cisticolas placed in the genus Cisticola that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup.

Seven subspecies are recognised: C. a. admiralis Bates, GL, 1930 – south Mauritania to Mali, Ghana and Sierra Leone C. a. petrophilus Alexander, 1907 – north Nigeria to southwest Sudan, northeast DR Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi

C. a. emini Reichenow, 1892 – south Kenya and north Tanzania C. a. nyika Lynes, 1930 – Zambia and southwest... Wikipedia →