Cisticolas and Allies (Cisticolidae)

Hunter's Cisticola (Cisticola hunteri) - HBW 11, p. 443

French: Cisticole de Hunter German: Gebirgszistensanger Spanish: Cistícola de Hunter

Taxonomy: Cisticola hunteri Shelley, 1889, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
Forms a superspecies with C. chubbi and C. nigriloris, and apparently also with undescribed “Kilombero Cisticola” from SE Tanzania (see page 382). Birds in N of range (Mt Elgon) plainer and more rufous than those in S (N Tanzania), which browner and more streaked; also some altitudinal variation, birds from more open habitats at high elevations on Mt Kilimanjaro drabber than those lower down; variation, however, seems to be clinal, and naming of geographical races considered unwarranted. Monotypic.

Distribution: Highlands of E Uganda (Mt Elgon), WC Kenya and N Tanzania.