Native to Africa south of the equator and parts of East Africa, the rattling cisticola (Cisticola chiniana) is highly conspicuous due to its strident and repetitive call-notes from prominent perches - hence its name. The Rattling Cisticola is the most common cisticola of woodlands in southern Africa, occurring in a range of vegetation types – though its natural habitat is arid, mesic or moist savannas and woodland, often dominated by thorn trees or thorn shrub.
