Cisticola marginatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The winding cisticola (Cisticola marginatus) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It has a scattered distribution across Africa south of the Sahara, and north of 11°S. The winding cisticola has several subspecies:
The Clements list (2017) and the Howard and Moore list (2014) lump the rufous-winged cisticola, Luapula cisticola, coastal cisticola and Ethiopian cisticola with the above subspecies as the winding cisticola Cisticola galactotes (sensu lato). The Clements list (2017) recognizes 11 subspecies.
Its natural habitats are tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and swamps. Media related to Cisticola marginatus at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Cisticola marginatus at Wikispecies
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Winding Cisticola sighting in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 107th most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Winding Cisticola in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, against about 10% in April and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary's driest months, with almost no rain against 55 mm in August. May to October have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Winding 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.
5th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Winding Cisticola sightings, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Nairobi National Park (Kenya, about 50%), Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 30%) and Amboseli National Park (Kenya, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Winding Cisticola is recorded against all the birds logged in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (33 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
