Black-tailed cisticola
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Black-tailed cisticola
| image = Cisticola melanurus, Cuanavale-rivier, a.jpg
| image_caption = At source of Cuanavale River, Angola
| status = DD
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Cisticola melanurus
| authority = (Cabanis, 1882)
| synonyms = Cisticola melanurus (Cabanis, 1882) [orth. error]}}
image:DryodromasPearsoniGronvold.jpg
The black-tailed cisticola (Cisticola melanurus) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its natural habitat is dry savanna and the canopy of smaller trees. It forages for insects both in the canopy and on the ground.
Taxonomy
The black-tailed cisticola was described by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1882 and given the binomial name Dryodromas melanurus.{{ cite journal | last=Cabanis | first=Jean | author-link=Jean Cabanis | year=1882 | title=Nachrichten und Neuigkeiten: Allgemeine Deutsche Ornithologische Gesellschaft | journal=Ornithologisches Centralblatt. | volume=7 | page=91 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8739953 }}{{ cite journal | last1=Steinheimer | first1=F.D. | last2=Dean | first2=W.R.J. | year=2007 | title=Avian type specimens and their type localities from Otto Schütt's and Friedrich von Mechow's Angolan collections in the Museum für Naturkunde of the Humboldt-University of Berlin | journal=Zootaxa | volume=1387 | pages=1–25 | doi=10.11646/ootaxa.1387.1.1 }} The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek words melas "black" and oura "tail".{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2019 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/melanurum-melanurus | access-date=8 January 2019 }} The species is now placed in the genus Cisticola which was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829.{{ cite book | last=Kaup | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Kaup | year=1829 | title=Skizzirte Entwickelungs-Geschichte und natürliches System der europäischen Thierwelt | language=German | place=Darmstadt | publisher=Carl Wilhelm Leske | page=119 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41576542 }} The species is monotypic.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Grassbirds, Donacobius, Malagasy warblers, cisticolas & allies | work=World Bird List Version 8.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/grassbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=7 January 2019 }}
Description
The black-tailed cisticola is {{cvt|10|-|11|cm}} in length and weighs {{cvt|8|-|10|g}}. It has a rich rufous crown, dark grey-brown back and a long black tail. The underparts are whitish.{{cite web | last1=Ryan | first1=P. | last2=de Juana | first2=E. | last3=Sharpe | first3=C.J. | year=2019 | title=Black-tailed Cisticola (Cisticola melanurus) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/node/58639 | access-date=8 January 2019 |url-access=subscription }} Juveniles are similar to the adults but less brightly coloured. The black-tailed cisticola is similar in appearance to the long-tailed cisticola (Cisticola angusticauda).{{ cite journal | last1=Mills | first1=M.S.L. | last2=Melo | first2=M. | last3=Vaz | first3=A. | year=2011 | title=Black-tailed cisticola Cisticola melanurus in eastern Angola: behavioural notes and the first photographs and sound-recordings | journal=Bulletin of the African Bird Club | volume=18 | issue=2 | pages=193–198 | doi=10.5962/p.309940 | url=http://www.birdsangola.org/downloads/millspubs/Mills%20et%20al.%202011.%20Bull%20ABC%20(Angola,%20Black-tailed%20Cisiticola).pdf | doi-access=free }}
In flight the birds sometimes make a clicking sound with their wings.
References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q2225756}}
Category:Birds of Central Africa
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Cisticolidae-stub}}