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To the Beauty of Birds

The Croaking Cisticola (Cisticola natalensis) is an Old World warbler in the genus Cisticola.

The Croaking Cisticola is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara. It is a very small insectivorous bird.

The Croaking Cisticola's nest is a ball shape with a side entrance.

This is the largest cisticola. This warbler is grey-brown above, heavily streaked with black. The underparts are whitish, and the tail is broad, pale-tipped and flicked frequently. It has a chestnut wing-panel and a heavy bill.

It is very similar to other members of its genus. It is best distinguished from its many African relatives by its size and froglike croaking breep-breep song. The song is always the easiest identification criterion for this genus.

These birds, because of their small size (about 14 cm) are not always easy to recognize, particularly outside the breeding season when they seldom emerge from their grasses.

Croaking Cisticola