Lake Chelekcheka, Ethiopia
January 2016

The Rattling Cisticola is distributed in Africa from Ethiopia and Eritrea south to South Africa and west to Angola. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found in open bush and grassland and, in Ethiopia, between 600 and 2,000 metres.

There are 17 sub-species and the one found in Ethiopia is C. c. fricki which is a richer brown than most other races.