Cisticola lais
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Wailing Cisticola sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 384th most-seen of the 464 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Wailing Cisticola in Kruger National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Wailing Cisticola sightings, Kruger National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa, about 30%).
Same genus: Cisticola
The closest relatives of the Wailing Cisticola that you can see in Kruger National Park (genus Cisticola, Cisticolas) are Rattling Cisticola (about 40%), Red-faced Cisticola (about 20%) and Zitting 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 Kruger National Park (20 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.
