Zitting Cisticola

Cisticola juncidis

The zitting cisticola, formerly also fan-tailed warbler or streaked fantail warbler, is a widely distributed Old World warbler in the family Cisticolidae, whose breeding range includes western and southern Europe, Africa outside the deserts and rainforest, and southern Asia down to northern Australia. A small bird found mainly in grasslands, it is best identified by its rufous rump; in addition it lacks any gold on the collar and the brownish tail is tipped with white. During the breeding season males have a zigzagging flight display accompanied by regular "zit" calls that give it its English name. They build their pouch nest suspended within a clump of grass. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 3,336 times across 42 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

See the Zitting Cisticola on the live map

Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 21°C (typically 20 to 25°C, from 5 areas). That holds across 20° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

Download every area as CSV

Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.