CreatureData

Dorst's cisticola

Cisticola guinea Lynes, 1930

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea) is a species in the family Cisticolidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 9.3 g to 10 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea)
Photo: Ron Knight · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the dorst's cisticola

Weight
9.3 g – 10 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
woodlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.75src 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 dorst's cisticola live?

Not recorded

What is the dorst's cisticola?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea), also known as the plaintive cisticola, is a bird in the family Cisticolidae. It occurs in West Africa and south of Lake Chad.

Taxonomy and systematics of this bird are quite confusing. The Cisticolidae were formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage and placed in the family Sylviidae. Dorst's cisticola was initially named Cisticola dorsti, hence the common name. The name commemorates the French ornithologist Jean Dorst.

Another very similar cisticola had been described some years earlier as a subspecies of the red-pate cisticola (C. ruficeps), and named C. r. guinea. It was eventually discovered that these two taxa were one and the same, and that the song of these birds differs enough from the visually very similar red-pate cisticola for reproductive isolation. Thus, the newly discovered population is usually considered a good species, and the current scientific name is Cisticola guinea, although other taxonomists continue to use dorsti.

Its natural habitat is dry savanna. This little-known bird was formerly classified as data deficient by the IUCN, mainly due to the uncertainty regarding its taxonomic status. New research has shown it to be plentiful and widespread. Consequently, it is listed as a species of least concern in 2008.

From the Wikipedia article “Dorst's cisticola” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dorst%27s_cisticola&oldid=1380008644), 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 dorst's cisticola endangered?

The dorst's cisticola is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. 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 dorst's cisticola classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyCisticolidae
  6. genusCisticola
  7. SpeciesCisticola guinea Lynes, 1930

Synonyms Cisticola dorsti, Cisticola dorsti, Cisticola dorsti, Cisticola dorsti, Cisticola guinea dorsti, Cisticola guinea guinea, Cisticola ruficeps guinea

Other names and names in other languages (30)
  • DOCIEnglish
  • cistovník DorstůvCzech
  • Sisticola cynffonhirWelsh
  • Langhalet CisticolaDanish
  • DorstcistensängerGerman
  • DorstzistensängerGerman
  • dorsta cistikoloEsperanto
  • Cistícola de DorstSpanish
  • Cistícola de DurstSpanish
  • سبدنشین دورستPersian
  • valittajaherttuFinnish
  • valittajaheinäkerttuFinnish
  • Cisticole de DorstFrench
  • savanska šivalicaCroatian
  • Cisticola di DorstItalian
  • ニシズアカセッカJapanese
  • gvinėjinė cistikolaLithuanian
  • KlaaggraszangerDutch
  • KraaggraszangerDutch
  • hausagressangerNorwegian
  • chwastówka stepowaPolish
  • fuinha-de-dorstPortuguese
  • fuinha-das-savanasPortuguese
  • Саванная цистиколаRussian
  • cistovník stepnýSlovak
  • guineacistikolaSwedish
  • Dorst YelpazekuyruğuTurkish
  • таміка гвінейськаUkrainian
  • 多氏扇尾莺Chinese
  • 多斯特氏扇尾鶯Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the dorst's cisticola

Other species in the same genus Cisticola.

CompareDorst's cisticola vs Zitting cisticolaDorst's cisticola vs Golden-headed cisticolaDorst's cisticola vs Rock-loving cisticolaDorst's cisticola vs Red-faced cisticola

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the dorst's cisticola?

An adult dorst's cisticola weighs 9.3 g – 10 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the dorst's cisticola endangered?

The dorst's 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 dorst's cisticola?

The dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dorsts-cisticola

MLA

“Dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dorsts-cisticola.

BibTeX
@misc{dorsts_cisticola_2026,
  title = {Dorst's cisticola (Cisticola guinea)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dorsts-cisticola},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}