SANParks.org Forums

Warbler, Robberg Peninsula, Plettenberg Bay, mid-November

At the time I thought this was Lazy Cisticola but having looked at some of the photos of Neddicky on BirdPics I'm not so sure.

Any thoughts?

Peter

ph87gb,
Neddicky The plain back, rufous crown and the darker grey underparts is typical for the once seen along the coast / Cape and no pale supercilium..

Thanks Lizet.

Don't think much of the illustration in the SASOL guide in that case because it looked very Prinia-like with a longish tail where as the book shows a stocky bird with a short tail!

Still the pictures on BirdPics are very useful.

Peter

Please can you assist me with this one seen at Cintsa nature reserve 20km north of East London in the coastal dunes





many thanks

Wingman
Neddicky,

The fact that the back is unmarked rufous as the wings and not greyish, hint that this is the Coastal race which is a lot more grey underneath. Wailing will have a greyish back and a hint of an eyebrow...

Here is also one of the greyer race taken at Robberg.

Neddicky

Many thanks Lizet our neddicky's are much paler without the grey, this was my original thought but was not sure.

Cisticola fulvicapilla known as the Neddicky (derived from the Afrikaans name for the species), is a resident breeder in most of South Africa excluding the driest parts in the west.

The length of the tail is intermediate; not as short as that of the “short-tailed” species, but shorter than the “long-tailed" cisticolas.

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.

It 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 alone or in pairs, darting about in a bush or in the grass at the base of a tree as it forages for small insects.

"Northern race"

Large view

"Southern race"

Large view

Recently seen in Stilfontein North West

Neddicky2 by Wildtuinman2, on Flickr