Croaking Cisticola

I photographed two croaking cisticolas in Uganda. Neither has been substantiated by a reviewer on iNaturalist, but I believe our guide William identified them as such. The first was in Murchison Falls NP.

The next one was in Kidepo Valley NP.

It is the largest cisticola. It is gray-brown above, heavily streaked with black. The underparts are whitish, the tail is broad and pale-tipped. It has a heavy bill and a chestnut wing-panel. It is best distinguished from other cisticolas by its size and froglike croaking breep-breep. There are seven subspecies and I saw ssp strangei which is found from Senegal east to most of South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, south-central Kenya and northern Tanzania, south to Congo and Cabinda. Because of their small size and the fact that they rarely emerge from the grasses, except in breeding season, the song is the easiest way to identify them.

Illustration of ssp natalensis from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World.