Cisticola lateralis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The whistling cisticola (Cisticola lateralis) is a species of bird in the Cisticolidae family. It is native to the African tropical rainforest and adjacent areas. Its natural habitats include subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna.
The whistling cisticola was formally described in 1843 by the British zoologist and collector Louis Fraser under the binomial name Drymoica lateralis based on a specimen collected near Cape Palmas in the south of Liberia. The specific epithet lateralis is Latin meaning "of the side" or "lateral". The whistling cisticola is now one of 53 species placed in the genus Cisticola that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup.
Three subspecies are recognised: The whistling cisticola is a mid-sized bird that has a body length of 13–16 cm with a male weight of 14-21 grams, and female weight of 12-19 grams. A breeding, male cisticola is described to... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Whistling Cisticola sighting in Freetown on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 22nd most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Whistling Cisticola in Freetown on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month. That is one of Freetown's wettest months, with about 400 mm of rain against almost none in January. March–April, July–August and October–November have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Whistling Cisticola sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Whistling Cisticola sightings, Freetown has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Kampala (Uganda, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Whistling Cisticola is recorded against all the birds logged in Freetown (14 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
