Cisticola lais
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The wailing cisticola (Cisticola lais) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.
Lynes's cisticola of Uganda, Kenya and northern Tanzania is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of this species. The appearance of their eggs varies widely; they can be white, pale blue, spotted, or streaked. Wailing cisticola - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Wailing Cisticola sighting in Golden Gate Highlands National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 35th most-seen of the 108 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Wailing Cisticola in Golden Gate Highlands National Park on a given day, against about 20% in February, May, July and December, the lowest months. That is one of Golden Gate Highlands National Park's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain against 130 mm in January. March has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wailing Cisticola sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Wailing Cisticola sightings, Golden Gate Highlands National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Kruger National Park (South Africa, under 5%).
Same genus: Cisticola
The closest relatives of the Wailing Cisticola that you can see in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (genus Cisticola, Cisticolas) are Levaillant's Cisticola (about 50%), Wing-snapping Cisticola (about 20%) and Piping Cisticola (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wailing Cisticola is recorded against all the birds logged in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (44 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.
