Winding Cisticola

My previous post on the zitting cisticola had a little bit on cisticolas in general and how difficult they are to identify, particularly in Africa. The only other cisticola that I've had confirmation on from another identifier on iNaturalist is the winding cisticola which I saw on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swamp near Entebbe, Uganda. I saw another in the same area that my guide identified as a winding cisticola (he identified both), but it has not had a confirmation on iNaturalist. 

This one had an identifier on iNaturalist. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults, but has a crown streaked dark brown and a face and underparts washed lemon-yellow, which this has. 

This one did not have an identifier on iNaturalist. The options given on iNaturalist were first, winding; second, croaking; third, zitting; and fourth, rattling; all cisticolas. 

There are five subspecies and I saw ssp nyansae which is found in central and eastern DRC, Uganda and Kenya. The descriptions are so detailed and the differences so subtle that it is hard to get motivated to go into the description. The nominate subspecies has, among other things, ear-coverts washed gray-brown; a rufous-brown to rufous crown; upperparts are dark gray-brown, broadly streaked blackish on the mantle and back; flight feathers and upper wing coverts are dark brown with rufous margins, forming a reddish wing panel; remaining wing coverts are broadly margined gray-brown. The crown of ssp nyansae is more rufous-brown and less gray. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

I looked to see if I could find out how the name "winding" came about. A blog called "Laura Erickson's For The Birds", did a post on December 15, 2016 titled Sounding out Names. She noted that when she was in Uganda she "saw a bunch of drab songbirds called cisticolas. Many of the species in this group are named specifically for the sounds thy make: there is a Singing, Chattering, Whistling, Trilling, Bubbling, Rattling, Tinkling, Wailing, Churring, Chirping, Croaking, Piping, Zitting, and Wing-snapping Cisticola. I'm not sure how the Winding Cisticola got its name, because it doesn't sound like someone is winding a clock..." 

Range from Birds of the World.