John Holmes

2010-Jan-17   Ping Yeung
1D MKIV + 800mm + 1.4x

lchunfai

John , may I ask how to identify  Bright-capped  / Zitting Cisticola ?
I always make mistakes between these 2

Thank you
Fai

John Holmes

Hello Fai;

Yes, they ARE a bit difficult to tell apart.  

This species was probably just overlooked in Hong Kong until - in 1991 - a visiting birder saw some and inspired a closer look by HK birders.

Bright-capped Cisticola has a RUFOUS supercilium, rufous sides to the neck, and rufous nape.  The tail is uniformly dark with BUFFY tips, as can be seen in the photo above.

Also, Bright-capped Cisticola (also known as Bright-headed Cisticola) has a "bleating" PZEEEET call.  

Here is a link to a very similar-sounding bird ( but a different race to ours) in the Philippines...

http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds ... tLuzon09Edwards.mp3


Zitting Cisticola (formerly known as Fantail Warbler) has a whiteish supercilium and a WHITE tipped tail.  See photo below.  (also taken at Ping Yeung yesterday, 2010-Jan-17)

lchunfai

Thank you , John
From your photos , I can find that  Bright-capped is much darker( The plumage is more rufous ).
Also , bright-capped's tail is longer(?) <-- Am I right ?

In fact , I have heard its call once ( noticed by Koel Ko in Lam Tsuen ). However , I couldn't discern it.

Really thanks a lot~

Best wishes
Fai

fatchun

I'm also a learner

As I can see from the photos, the color of the back of Bright-caped Cisticola seems to be more black color with less white color at the edge of feather. But the white edge in Zitting Cisticola is much obvious.
Right???

ajohn

As John mentions, call is certainly the best way to separate these two. The buzzing call of Bright-capped is very distinctive.

Other features people haven't yet mentioned:
Habitat - Bright-capped tends to occur in drier grassland (especially hillsides).
Behaviour - Bright-capped is usually much shier, diving into the bottom of grasses, whereas Zitting will often perch near the top of the grass.
Structure - The tail of Bright-capped is slightly longer, looking a bit more prinia-like.
Head pattern - The eye of Bright-capped stands out against the plainer face (probably due to the lack of white supercilium). Most of the face is plain rufous, with the nape contrasting with the darker crown and mantle. The cheeks tend to look slightly grey, but still rather plain.
Underparts - Often a bit more contrasting on Bright-capped, which has slightly darker flanks but white centre to the belly.

John Holmes

Thanks, John A. , for that concise summary !

Bright-capped is usually more rufous, and darker than Zitting, but this is not always very obvious.
- and mentioned by Fai, confirmed by John, LONGER tailed.

lchunfai

Oh I see~ thank you John and John.A a lot~

handrew

And very nice photos too John-boy.

hernest

Thank you very much for your explaination, here a good lesson.