Prinia | |
---|---|
Bar-winged prinia (Prinia familiaris) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Cisticolidae |
Genus: | Prinia Horsfield, 1821 |
Type species | |
Prinia familiaris [1] Horsfield, 1821 | |
Species | |
See text |
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.
The prinias are sometimes referred to as wren-warblers. They are a little-known group of the tropical and subtropical Old World, the roughly thirty species being divided fairly equally between Africa and Asia.
These are birds mainly of open habitats such as long grass or scrub, in which they are not easily seen. They are mainly resident, migration being limited to local cold weather movements. Non-breeding birds may form small flocks.
Prinias have short wings but long tapering tails. They are fairly drab birds, brown or grey above (sometimes with dark streaks) and whitish below. Some species have different breeding and non-breeding plumages. The bill is a typical insectivore's, thin and slightly curved.
The genus was erected by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821. The type species is the bar-winged prinia (Prinia familiaris). [2] [3] The name of the genus is derived from the Javanese prinya, the local name for the bar-winged prinia. [4]
A molecular phylogenetic study of the Cisticolidae published in 2013 found that the rufous-vented grass babbler did not lie within the clade containing the other prinias. [5] Based on this analysis the rufous-vented prinia and the closely related swamp grass babbler were moved to the reinstated genus Laticilla in the family Pellorneidae. [6]
The genus contains 30 species: [6]
Image | Common Name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Himalayan prinia | Prinia crinigera | Himalayas and southern China | |
- | Striped prinia | Prinia striata | China, Taiwan |
- | Brown prinia | Prinia polychroa | Indochina and Java |
- | Burmese prinia | Prinia cookie | Burma and southern Yunnan |
- | Annam prinia | Prinia rocki | Đà Lạt Plateau |
Black-throated prinia | Prinia atrogularis | eastern Himalayas | |
- | Rufous-crowned prinia | Prinia khasiana | Patkai |
Hill prinia | Prinia superciliaris | southern China and Southeast Asia | |
Grey-crowned prinia | Prinia cinereocapilla | Himalayas | |
Rufous-fronted prinia | Prinia buchanani | northern half of South Asia | |
Rufescent prinia | Prinia rufescens | Indochina and northeast India | |
Grey-breasted prinia | Prinia hodgsonii | Indochina and South Asia | |
Graceful prinia | Prinia gracilis | Nile valley, coastal East Africa and Western Asia, northern South Asia | |
Delicate prinia | Prinia lepida | Middle East and northern South Asia | |
Jungle prinia | Prinia sylvatica | India and Sri Lanka | |
Bar-winged prinia | Prinia familiaris | Sumatra and Java | |
Yellow-bellied prinia | Prinia flaviventris | Indus valley, Himalayas and Southeast Asia | |
Ashy prinia | Prinia socialis | South Asia | |
Tawny-flanked prinia | Prinia subflava | Sub-Saharan Africa | |
Plain prinia | Prinia inornata | Indomalaya | |
Pale prinia | Prinia somalica | Horn of Africa | |
River prinia | Prinia fluviatilis | western Sahel and far north-western Kenya | |
Black-chested prinia | Prinia flavicans | southern Africa | |
Karoo prinia | Prinia maculosa | far-southern Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho | |
Drakensberg prinia | Prinia hypoxantha | eastern South Africa and Swaziland | |
São Tomé prinia | Prinia mollir | São Tomé Island | |
Banded prinia | Prinia bairdii | central Africa | |
- | Black-faced prinia | Prinia melanops | Rwenzori and western Kenya |
Red-winged prinia | Prinia erythroptera | Sub-Saharan Africa (except central, southern and Horn of Africa) | |
Red-fronted prinia | Prinia rufifrons | eastern Sahel and Horn of Africa | |
Species formerly in Prinia but now moved to Laticilla in family Pellorneidae: [5]
The Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the cisticolas into Cisticolidae and the kinglets into Regulidae. In the past 20–30 years they have been the subject of much research and many species are now placed into other families, including the Acrocephalidae, Cettiidae, Phylloscopidae, and Megaluridae. In addition some species have been moved into existing families or have not yet had their placement fully resolved. Only a small number of warblers, in just two genera, are now retained in the family Sylviidae.
Cisticolas are a genus of very small insectivorous birds formerly classified in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, but now usually considered to be in the separate family Cisticolidae, along with other southern warbler genera. They are believed to be quite closely related to the swallows and martins, the bulbuls and the white-eyes. The genus contains about 50 species, of which only two are not found in Africa: one in Madagascar and the other from Asia to Australasia. They are also sometimes called fantail-warblers due to their habit of conspicuously flicking their tails, or tailor-birds because of their nests.
The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160 warblers, small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae.
Tailorbirds are small birds, most belonging to the genus Orthotomus. While they were often placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, recent research suggests they more likely belong in the Cisticolidae and they are treated as such in Del Hoyo et al. One former species, the mountain tailorbird, is actually closer to an old world warbler genus Cettia.
The ashy prinia or ashy wren-warbler is a small warbler in the family Cisticolidae. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, ranging across most of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, eastern Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and western Myanmar. It is a common bird in urban gardens and farmlands in many parts of India and its small size, distinctive colours and upright tail make it easy to identify. The northern populations have a rufous rump and back and have a distinct breeding and non-breeding plumage while other populations lack such variation.
The tawny-flanked prinia is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Prinia in the family Cisticolidae, a family of Old World warblers. It is widespread and common in most parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The plain prinia of southern Asia was formerly included in this species but is now usually considered to be a separate species.
The apalises are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Apalis, in the family Cisticolidae. They are found in forest, woodlands and scrub across most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They are slender birds with long tails and have a slender bill for catching insects. They are typically brown, grey or green above and several species have brightly coloured underparts. Males and females are usually similar in appearance but the males are sometimes brighter.
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.
Bathmocercus is a genus of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It contains the following species:
The red-winged grey warbler is a small to medium size bird in the family Cisticolidae that is native to Central Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Drymocichla. It is mostly grey with a white underside, a long tail and a prominent red patch on the wing. It is commonly found in swamp and savanna-like environments where it breeds in the rainy season. The sexes are alike.
The red-winged prinia or the red-winged warbler is a bird species in the family Cisticolidae. It formerly belonged in the monotypic genus Heliolais. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where its natural habitat is dry savanna.
The rufous-eared warbler is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. It is the only species in the genus Malcorus. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
Neomixis is a genus of small forest birds that are endemic to Madagascar.
Roberts's warbler, also known as Roberts' prinia, briar warbler or brier warbler, is a species of passerine bird belonging to the family Cisticolidae. This species is endemic to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is the only species in the genus Oreophilias.
The red-fronted prinia, also known as the red-fronted warbler and the red-faced apalis, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.
Sylvioidea is a superfamily of passerine birds, one of at least three major clades within the Passerida along with the Muscicapoidea and Passeroidea. It contains about 1300 species including the Old World warblers, Old World babblers, swallows, larks and bulbuls. Members of the clade are found worldwide, but fewer species are present in the Americas.
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.
The African warblers are a newly erected family Macrosphenidae, of African songbirds. Most of the species were formerly placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, although one species, the rockrunner, was placed in the babbler family, Timaliidae. A series of molecular studies of the Old World warblers and other bird families in the superfamily Sylvioidea found that the African warblers were not part of Sylviidae but were instead an early (basal) offshoot of the entire clade Sylvioidea. Some taxonomic authorities place the entire family Hyliidae here.
The ground babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average the length of their body, or longer. These birds are found in tropical zones, with the greatest biodiversity in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Laticilla is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Pellorneidae. Members of the genus are found in Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.