Desert Cisticola (Cisticola aridulus) - BirdLife species factsheet

Desert Cisticola Cisticola aridulus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	23,800,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	increasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.19 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common (del Hoyo et al. 2006). The population is suspected to be increasing in line with a possible range expansion linked with agricultural development (del Hoyo et al. 2006).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be increasing in line with a possible range expansion linked with agricultural development (del Hoyo et al. 2006).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident
Angola	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Djibouti	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Lesotho	extant	native	yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Desert Cisticola Cisticola aridulus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/desert-cisticola-cisticola-aridulus on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.