Cisticola fulvicapilla
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The neddicky, or piping cisticola (Cisticola fulvicapilla), is a small passerine bird in the family Cisticolidae, which is native to Africa, southwards of the equator. Its strongholds are the light woodlands and shrublands of the subtropics and temperate regions of southern Africa. The common name, neddicky, is the Afrikaans name for the species.
The neddicky was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1817 and given the binomial name Sylvia fulvicapilla. The specific epithet combines the Latin words fulvus "tawny" and -capillus "capped". The type locality is Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The species is now placed in the genus Cisticola which was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829.
Nine subspecies are recognised: Cisticola fulvicapilla dispar Sousa, 1887 – southeast Gabon to northwest Zambia and central Angola Cisticola fulvicapilla muelleri Alexander, 1899 – central Zambia to Mozambique and northeast Zimbabwe
Cisticola fulvicapilla hallae Benson, 1955 – south Angola and northeast Namibia to west Zimbabwe Cisticola fulvicapilla dexter Clancey, 1971 – southeast Botswana to central Zimbabwe and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Mikumi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 7 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 13 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 14 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 15 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 16 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 17 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Piping Cisticola sighting in Golden Gate Highlands National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 73rd most-seen of the 108 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Piping Cisticola in Golden Gate Highlands National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month. Those are among Golden Gate Highlands National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in January. March has too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Piping Cisticola sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Piping Cisticola sightings, Golden Gate Highlands National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa, about 20%), Mikumi National Park (Tanzania, about 10%) and Garden Route National Park (South Africa, about 10%).
Same genus: Cisticola
The closest relatives of the Piping Cisticola that you can see in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (genus Cisticola, Cisticolas) are Levaillant's Cisticola (about 50%), Wailing Cisticola (about 30%) and Wing-snapping Cisticola (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Piping Cisticola is recorded against all the birds logged in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (12 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.
