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 Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

. Taxonomy and

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

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 In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

red-pate cisticola The red-pate cisticola (''Cisticola ruficeps'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, M ...

(''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 The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes critical for speciation. They prevent members of different species from producing offspring, or ensure that any offspring ...

. 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 A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, 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.BLI (2008)

Footnotes

References

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(BLI) (2008)
Dorst's cisticola Birds of West Africa">008 IUCN Redlist status changes]
Retrieved 2008-MAY-23. Dorst's cisticola Birds of West Africa Birds described in 1991">Dorst's cisticola Taxonomy articles created by Polbot">Cisticola">Dorst's cisticola Birds of West Africa Birds described in 1991">Dorst's cisticola Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cisticolidae-stub