Desert cisticola
Cisticola aridulus Witherby, 1900
The desert cisticola (Cisticola aridulus) is a species in the family Cisticolidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 8.3 g to 10.2 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the desert cisticola
- Weight
- 8.3 g – 10.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.8 – 3.65src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the desert cisticola live?
Not recorded
What is the desert cisticola?
The desert cisticola (Cisticola aridulus) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae.
It is present throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, although relatively absent from central and coastal western areas of the continent.
It is an insectivore. It forages primarily in grassy vegetation.
From the Wikipedia article “Desert cisticola” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert_cisticola&oldid=1313762486), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the desert cisticola endangered?
The desert cisticola is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the desert cisticola classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCisticolidae
- genusCisticola
- SpeciesCisticola aridulus Witherby, 1900
Other names and names in other languages (29)
- DECIEnglish
- WoestynklopkloppieAfrikaans
- cistícola del desertCatalan
- cistovník pouštníCzech
- cistovník suchomilnýCzech
- ØrkencisticolaDanish
- KalaharicistensängerGerman
- KalaharizistensängerGerman
- dezerta cistikoloEsperanto
- Cistícola del KalahariSpanish
- aroherttuFinnish
- Cisticole du désertFrench
- Ceolaire gaineamhlaighIrish
- pustinjska šivalicaCroatian
- kalahári szuharbújóHungarian
- Cisticola del desertoItalian
- サバクセッカJapanese
- dykuminė cistikolaLithuanian
- KalaharigraszangerDutch
- ørkengressangerNorwegian
- chwastówka pustynnaPolish
- fuinha-do-desertoPortuguese
- Пустынная цистиколаRussian
- cistovník púštnySlovak
- ökencistikolaSwedish
- Çöl YelpazekuyruğuTurkish
- таміка пустельнаUkrainian
- 漠扇尾莺Chinese
- 沙漠扇尾鶯Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the desert cisticola
Other species in the same genus Cisticola.
Zitting cisticola
Cisticola juncidis
Golden-headed cisticola
Cisticola exilis
Rock-loving cisticola
Cisticola aberrans
Red-faced cisticola
Cisticola erythrops
Singing cisticola
Cisticola cantans
Madagascar cisticola
Cisticola cherina
CompareDesert cisticola vs Zitting cisticolaDesert cisticola vs Golden-headed cisticolaDesert cisticola vs Rock-loving cisticolaDesert cisticola vs Red-faced cisticola
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the desert cisticola?
An adult desert cisticola weighs 8.3 g – 10.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the desert cisticola endangered?
The desert cisticola is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the desert cisticola?
The desert cisticola (Cisticola aridulus) belongs to the family Cisticolidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Desert cisticola (Cisticola aridulus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-cisticola
“Desert cisticola (Cisticola aridulus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-cisticola.
@misc{desert_cisticola_2026,
title = {Desert cisticola (Cisticola aridulus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-cisticola},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}