The Neddicky or piping cisticola is a small, vocal, dull-coloured brown bird, it has a reddish cap and a plain back. The southern form, found in the southern parts of South Africa, has the face and underpart plumage grey, with the back plumage greyish brown, sexes are similar, but juvenile birds are yellower.
The Neddicky builds a ball-shaped nest with a side entrance from dry grass, cobwebs and felted plant down. The nest is placed low in a thorny shrub, or in thick grass.
The Neddicky is usually seen in pairs or singly, flitting in a bush or the grass at the base of a tree as it forages for small insects. We saw this one in the Harold Porter Gardens in the Western Cape.
