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Luapula Cisticola | Cisticola luapula
Luapulagraszanger | Cistícola del Luapula
The Luapula Cisticola is a wetland cisticola of the floodplains and papyrus fringes of the Okavango–Zambezi basin. It belongs to the complex around Winding Cisticola, now split into several species, and is almost confined to the area covered by this guide.
Voice
The song combines sharp, buzzing notes and quick trills, for example tee-tee-zrrreeeee, from the top of a reed stem or papyrus head. It gives a loud, sharp chwee and, in alarm, a scolding chrrrr or a quick tsik-tsik-tsik.
Recording: James Bradley — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
12–14 cm. In breeding plumage (rainy season) the crown is rufous-brown, the back grey with distinct black streaks, and the rufous edges of the flight feathers form a striking rusty wing panel. The underparts are white with a greyish wash on the breast and flanks. The tail is grey-brown with a black band before the white tips, well visible from below. In non-breeding plumage (dry season) the bird is browner and warmer buff, with a streaked crown and a longer tail. The sexes are alike, the male larger. It is best separated from Rufous-Winged Cisticola by range; on average it is slightly paler and greyer on the back.
Confusion species
Chirping Cisticola Cisticola pipiens often lives in the same swamps but is larger, with a longer, broader tail, a browner back with less contrasting streaks and a duller wing; it sings a series of chirping notes with a trill. Levaillant's Cisticola Cisticola tinniens of wet vleis in the highlands of Zambia and Angola is smaller, with a blacker back and a bright rufous tail. Dambo Cisticola Cisticola dambo lives in drier dambo grassland and sings in song flight. Rufous-Winged Cisticola Cisticola galactotes and Winding Cisticola Cisticola marginatus are very similar but replace it in the east and north-east respectively. Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis is smaller with a short tail. Range, reedy wetland and song are decisive.
Habitat
Seasonally flooded grassland, sedge beds, reed and papyrus fringes along rivers, lagoons and lakes, and rank grass at the edge of floodplains. It forages low in the vegetation and on floating plant mats, usually in pairs.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of southern Africa.
Range and movements
Within the region in eastern Angola, across much of Zambia (including the Barotse floodplain, Kafue Flats, Bangweulu and the Luapula valley), in northern Botswana (Okavango Delta, Linyanti and Chobe), in north-eastern Namibia (Kavango and Zambezi Region) and in north-western Zimbabwe along the Zambezi. Beyond the region only in south-eastern DR Congo around Lake Mweru.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Present all year; males sing most in the rains. A mokoro trip in the Okavango Delta or a boat trip along the Chobe riverfront is the best way to see it, but the Kafue Flats and the Barotse plain are also good. Scan reed plumes and papyrus heads for a singing bird, and note the grey-and-black streaked back and rusty wing panel.
Conservation status
Not threatened. Common in suitable wetlands within its limited range. It depends on seasonal flooding; dams, river regulation and drainage can damage its habitat.
Scientific name
Cisticola luapula | Lynes, 1933
Lynes described the species in 1933 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Cisticola was introduced in 1829 by Kaup. Cisticola combines the Ancient Greek kisthos 'rock-rose' with the Latin colere 'to dwell'. luapula refers to the Luapula, the river that drains Lake Bangweulu in Zambia. The specimen the first description was based on came from Lake Bangweulu, Zambia.