Red-faced cisticola

Red-faced cisticola
Singing near the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga, South Africa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cisticolidae
Genus: Cisticola
Species:
C. erythrops
Binomial name
Cisticola erythrops
(Hartlaub, 1857)
Audio
Song recorded in Limpopo, South Africa

The red-faced cisticola (Cisticola erythrops) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is widely present across sub-Saharan Africa (rare in southern Africa). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and swamps.

Taxonomy

The red-faced cisticola was formally described in 1857 by the German ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub under the binomial name Drymoeca erythrops based on a specimen collected near Calabar in Nigeria. The specific epithet erythrops combines the Ancient Greek ερυθρος/eruthros meaning "red" with ωψ/ōps meaning "eye" or "face". The red-faced cisticola is now one of 53 species placed in the genus Cisticola that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup.

Six subspecies are recognised:

The race C. e. lepe, found in Angola and possibly the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has sometimes been regarded as a separate species.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Cisticola erythrops". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T22713268A94368373. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22713268A94368373.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Hartlaub, Gustav (1857). System der Ornithologie Westafrica's (in German). Bremen: C. Schünemann. p. 58.
  3. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 85-86.
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A. "erythrop". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Grassbirds, Donacobius, tetrakas, cisticolas, allies". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 87.
  7. ↑ Ryan, P.G. (2006). "Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 11: Old Word flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 378-491 [441]. ISBN 978-84-96553-06-4.