Drakensberg prinia

Last updated

Drakensberg prinia
Drakensberg Prinia - South Africa S4E6311 (17318861432).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cisticolidae
Genus: Prinia
Species:
P. hypoxantha
Binomial name
Prinia hypoxantha
(Sharpe, 1877)

The Drakensberg prinia or saffron-breasted prinia (Prinia hypoxantha) is a small passerine bird. It lives in eastern South Africa and Eswatini.

Contents

It lives in the Drakensberg's forest edges, wooded gullies and bracken covered slopes. The Drakensberg prinia was formerly considered to be a subspecies P. m. hypoxantha of the Karoo prinia, P. maculosa.

Description

The Drakensberg prinia is 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) long, with short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short straight black bill. The head has a whitish eyebrow and the upperparts are otherwise brown. The throat and lower face are whitish with no streaking and the rest of the underparts are yellowish with dark streaking. The long tail has a dark spot near the end and is typically cocked up at an angle. The feet and legs are pinkish-brown, and the eye is pale. The sexes are identical, but juveniles are paler below than the adults.

The calls of this species include a sharp chleet-chleet-chleet-chleet-chleet-chleet, and a fast buzzy tit-tit-tit-tit-tit.

The Drakensberg prinia can only be confused with the closely related Karoo prinia, but that species has less yellow underparts with heavier spotting.

Behaviour

The Drakensberg prinia builds a thin-walled oval nest with a side entrance from green grass. It is well hidden deep inside a leafy shrub or bush.[ citation needed ]

The Drakensberg prinia is usually seen in pairs or small groups, typically low in scrub, but sometimes perching on the top of a bush. It actively forages for small insects, with tail cocked and frequently swung side-to-side.[ citation needed ]

Conservation status

This common species has a large range, with an estimated extent of 50,000-100,000 km². The population size is believed to be large, and the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as least concern.

Related Research Articles

<i>Prinia</i> Genus of birds

Prinia is a genus of small insectivorous birds belonging to the passerine bird family Cisticolidae. They were at one time classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jungle prinia</span> Species of bird

The jungle prinia is a small passerine bird, a warbler in the family Cisticolidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graceful prinia</span> Species of bird

The graceful prinia is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in northeastern Africa and southern Asia, from Egypt and Somalia east to Saudi Arabia, where it is sometimes called streaked wren-warbler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streak-headed woodcreeper</span> Species of bird

The streak-headed woodcreeper is a passerine bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Mexico, Central America, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela, and on Trinidad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-vented grass babbler</span> Species of bird

The rufous-vented grass babbler or rufous-vented prinia is a small warbler in the family Pellorneidae that occurs in Pakistan, northwestern India and Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drakensberg siskin</span> Species of bird

The Drakensberg siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is an endemic resident breeder in the eastern Cape Province Transkei and western Natal in South Africa, and in Lesotho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunn's lark</span> Species of bird

Dunn's lark is a small passerine bird of the lark family. It is a desert bird which is found across parts of the Sahara from Mauritania to central Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karoo prinia</span> Species of bird

The Karoo prinia or spotted prinia is a small passerine bird. It is a resident breeder in South Africa, Lesotho and far southern Namibia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namaqua warbler</span> Species of bird

The Namaqua warbler, also known as the Namaqua prinia or white-breasted prinia, is a small passerine bird, a cisticolid warbler and the sole member of the genus Phragmacia. It was formerly placed in the genus Prinia, but was found to be sufficiently distinct to warrant a genus of its own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-backed cisticola</span> Species of bird

The grey-backed cisticola or red-headed cisticola is a small passerine bird. This cisticola is a resident breeder in southernmost Angola, Namibia and western South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plain-mantled tit-spinetail</span> Species of bird

The plain-mantled tit-spinetail is a small passerine bird of South America in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine bush warbler</span> Species of bird

The Philippine bush warbler, also known as the Luzon bush warbler, is a species of bird in the family Cettiidae. It was formerly conspecific with the Japanese bush warbler. It is found only in the Philippines in the Cordillera Mountain Range of northern Luzon. It is found in tropical montane forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andean tit-spinetail</span> Species of bird

The Andean tit-spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streak-backed tit-spinetail</span> Species of bird

The streak-backed tit-spinetail, or streaked tit-spinetail, is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Chile and Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-browed tit-spinetail</span> Species of bird

The white-browed tit-spinetail is an Endangered species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cricket warbler</span> Species of bird

The cricket warbler, also known as cricket longtail, scaly longtail or cricket prinia, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It belongs to the genus Spiloptila; it is often the only species included in the genus but sometimes the red-fronted prinia is placed there as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive-backed woodcreeper</span> Species of bird

The olive-backed woodcreeper is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aztec thrush</span> Species of bird

The Aztec thrush is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found mainly in Mexico, but vagrants are occasionally seen in the United States. Its natural habitat is montane forests. The IUCN Red List denotes it as a least-concern species.

The swamp grass babbler or swamp prinia is a small bird of the Indian subcontinent. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of the rufous-vented grass babbler.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Prinia hypoxantha". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22729387A95013809. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22729387A95013809.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.