The red-pate cisticola is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and swamps.
Region
Sahel and Sudanian savannas of West to East Africa
Typical Environment
Occurs broadly from West Africa (e.g., Senegal and Gambia) across the Sahel and Sudanian zones to parts of East Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and adjacent regions. It frequents dry and open savannas with scattered shrubs, floodplains, and seasonal swamps. The species also occupies grass-dominated edges of wetlands and damp valleys within otherwise arid landscapes. It tolerates lightly modified habitats such as fallow fields and roadside grasslands provided there is dense ground cover for nesting.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Named for its conspicuous rufous crown, the red-pate cisticola is a small, grassland warbler that is often identified more easily by voice than by sight. It weaves a neat, domed nest from grasses bound with spider silk, typically low in dense cover. Males perform short display flights while giving a distinctive, insect-like song.
Temperament
skulking but active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, low over vegetation
Social Behavior
Usually found singly or in pairs, becoming territorial during the breeding season. The nest is a neat, domed structure of grasses bound with spider silk, placed low in tall grass or sedges. Pairs maintain small territories and communicate with frequent calls from exposed perches.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a high, insect-like series of thin trills and chips often delivered from a perch or during a brief display flight. Calls include sharp ‘tsit’ notes given repeatedly, especially at dawn and dusk.
Plumage
Fine, streaked brown upperparts with a warm rufous crown and nape; underparts buffy to greyish with lighter throat; short, graduated tail often showing dark subterminal bars.
Diet
Feeds mainly on small insects and other arthropods, including grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, ants, and spiders. It gleans prey from grass stems and leaves, makes short sallies to catch flushed insects, and occasionally probes among seed heads. Foraging is usually low to the ground within dense cover.
Preferred Environment
Most often forages in tall, rank grasses, sedge margins of swamps, and damp swales within savanna. It also uses weedy field edges and overgrown fallows where insects are abundant.
