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Black-backed Cisticola Cisticola eximius Scientific name definitions

Peter Ryan
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2006

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

10 cm; 11–13 g. A small, richly coloured cisticola with short, rounded tail and streaked upperparts. Male nominate race breeding has crown, face and neck reddish-brown, creamy supraloral stripe and narrow dark lores; upperparts rufous, heavily streaked blackish, rump plain orange-rufous; flight-feathers dark brown with rufous-buff margins, upperwing-coverts blackish with broad buffy-brown margins; tail dark brown with rufous margins and narrow pale grey tips; buffy below, paler on throat and central belly, orange-buff on flanks and vent; iris pale brown; bill dark brown, pinkish base; legs dull pink. Non-breeding male is more heavily streaked above, crown almost entirely black, tail longer. Distinguished in breeding plumage from C. juncidis by unstreaked crown and shorter tail, in non-breeding by richer rufous plumage (especially on rump and flanks) and darker tail with narrow buffy-grey (not white) tips. Female is slightly smaller than male, also slightly duller and with streaked crown and paler face throughout year. Juvenile is like non-breeding adult, but has browner streaks above, underparts washed lemon-yellow. Race occidens is paler and less rufous than nominate; winneba is even paler than previous, crown of breeding male lightly streaked.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Closely allied to C. textrix and C. dambo. Birds in Congo, having golden-yellow crown and rump and different call, perhaps represent an undescribed race. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Black-backed Cisticola (winneba) Cisticola eximius winneba Scientific name definitions

Cisticola eximius winneba
C. e. winneba

Distribution

coastal Ghana.
EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Black-backed Cisticola (Black-backed) Cisticola eximius eximius/occidens

Cisticola eximius eximius
C. e. eximius +1
Available illustrations of subspecies in this group
SUBSPECIES

Cisticola eximius occidens Scientific name definitions

Distribution
Senegal E patchily to Nigeria and N Cameroon.
SUBSPECIES

Cisticola eximius eximius Scientific name definitions

Distribution
locally in Congo, S Chad, N Central African Republic, NE DRCongo, South Sudan, NW Uganda (Murchinson Falls (1) ) and extreme SW Kenya (Masai Mara). Possibly extinct in Eritrea (one old record from Asmara) and NW Ethiopia (old records from Gojam) (2).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Short and medium-tall grassland, both in dry areas and in areas subject to seasonal flooding, where grasses grow to 2 m; also on eroded sandstone hills and highland grassland. Rapidly colonizes burnt areas, arriving a day after a fire in one dambo in PRCongo. To 1500 m in Uganda and 2400 m in N Ethiopia. In area of range overlap with C. brunnescens and C. aridulus, occurs at lower elevations than latter and prefers damper sites than those favoured by either.

Movement

Little known; presumably mostly resident, but subject to local movements to exploit suitable habitat patches, such as after fires.

Diet and Foraging

Diet mainly small insects, including bugs (Hemiptera) and ants (Hymenoptera). Feeds on the ground; often runs away when disturbed.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Male song, usually in aerial display, a series of thin “tsree” or “dzuaah” notes, at rate of 2 notes per second, occasionally interspersed by sharp “tchereet” call notes and wing-snapping (although no wing-snapping recorded at some sites); during descent gives “twee twee twee…” or “tchic-pee tchic-pee tchic-pee…”, with loudly whirring wings but no wing-snapping. Song differs regionally. Calls include cricket-like note, as well as “truk-truk-truk” or “trep trep trep”; when disturbed at nest, “chickle” alarm call, similar to elements in male’s song.

Breeding

Nesting May–Nov, during rains. Probably monogamous; solitary, territorial. Male sings from tall grass stalk or in aerial display, 50–60 m above ground, circling for 2–3 minutes while singing and snapping wings, then dives almost to ground, calling, with wings closed; rises to 5–6 m once or twice, then drops into grass. Nest pear-shaped, with side entrance at top, flimsily made from dry grass bound with spider web and incorporating green grass leaves into roof, lined with plant down and webs (female continues to add lining during incubation), placed low down in grass tussock, sometimes with base almost in water. Clutch 2–4 eggs (average 3); no information on incubation and nestling periods.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Uncommon in much of W Africa, becoming locally common in PRCongo, Uganda and N Ethiopia. “Dozens” arrived in a 1-ha dambo in PRCongo after a fire.
Distribution of the Black-backed Cisticola - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Black-backed Cisticola

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Ryan, P. (2020). Black-backed Cisticola (Cisticola eximius), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blncis1.01
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