This small bird is widely distributed throughout Africa, Asia, and Australia, while in Europe it is restricted to countries around the Mediterranean. In Spain, it is a relatively common species in low-lying, warm regions, where it is found associated with areas with reed beds, rushes, dense grasslands, and irrigated crops, where it weaves a laborious nest among the vegetation. Due to its small size, it is easier to detect due to its unmistakable song, which it emits while flying in its characteristic undulating flight.
The cisticola is one of the smallest birds in Europe. It has a dark brown, heavily striped back and crown, a reddish rump, and pale underparts with ochre-colored flanks and breast.
In Spain lives the subspecies cisticola , which is distributed in the lowest and warmest areas of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, avoiding cold regions and forest and mountain areas.
It inhabits the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of our country, as well as the plains and meadows of most of the river basins of the Tagus, the Duero, the Ebro, the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir.
