Prinia

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Prinia
Bar-winged Prinia (Prinia familiaris) .jpg
Bar-winged prinia (Prinia familiaris)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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

Ashy prinia (Prinia socialis) in Hyderabad, India Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis) in Hyderabad W IMG 8738.jpg
Ashy prinia ( Prinia socialis ) in Hyderabad, India
Plain prinia (Prinia inornata) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India Plain Prinia I IMG 7615.jpg
Plain prinia ( Prinia inornata ) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Grey-breasted prinia (Prinia hodgsonii) in Shamirpet, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India Grey-breasted Prinia (Prinia hodgsonii) eyeing Lannea coromandelica fruit W IMG 7890.jpg
Grey-breasted prinia ( Prinia hodgsonii ) in Shamirpet, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India

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.

Contents

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.

Taxonomy

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]

Species

The genus contains 29 species: [6]

ImageCommon NameScientific NameDistribution
Striated-prinia 29996308040 o.jpg Himalayan prinia Prinia crinigeraHimalayas and southern China
- Striped prinia Prinia striataChina, Taiwan
- Brown prinia Prinia polychroaIndochina and Java
- Burmese prinia Prinia cookiBurma and southern Yunnan
- Annam prinia Prinia rockiĐà Lạt Plateau
Black-throated Prinia.jpg Black-throated prinia Prinia atrogulariseastern Himalayas
- Rufous-crowned prinia Prinia khasianaPatkai
Prinia superc dysanc 190705-P901974 skrg.JPG Hill prinia Prinia superciliarissouthern China and Southeast Asia
PriniaPoliocephalaSmit.jpg Grey-crowned prinia Prinia cinereocapillaHimalayas
Prinia buchanani -Rajasthan, India-8.jpg Rufous-fronted prinia Prinia buchananinorthern half of South Asia
Rufescent Prinia - Krung Ching - Thailand S4E3616 (14258814955) (2).jpg Rufescent prinia Prinia rufescensIndochina and northeast India
Grey-breasted prinia by Tisha Mukherjee 18.jpg Grey-breasted prinia Prinia hodgsoniiIndochina and South Asia
Israel. Graceful Prinia (15397291996).jpg Graceful prinia Prinia gracilisNile valley, coastal East Africa and Western Asia, northern South Asia
Dikkuyruklu otlegen - Graceful prinia - Prinia gracile 03.jpg Delicate prinia Prinia lepidaMiddle East and northern South Asia
Jungle Prinia (Prinia sylvatica) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1329.jpg Jungle prinia Prinia sylvaticaIndia and Sri Lanka
Bar-winged Prinia (Prinia familiaris) .jpg Bar-winged prinia Prinia familiarisSumatra and Java
Yellow-bellied Prinia - Taiwan S4E9702 (17133168450).jpg Yellow-bellied prinia Prinia flaviventrisIndus valley, Himalayas and Southeast Asia
Ashy prinia(Prinia socialis) 3 kti[?]vaal[?] kuruvi .jpg Ashy prinia Prinia socialisSouth Asia
Tawny-flanked Prinia (Prinia subflava) (11465162445).jpg Tawny-flanked prinia Prinia subflavaSub-Saharan Africa
Plain Prinia @ Sholinganallur.jpg Plain prinia Prinia inornataIndomalaya
Pale Prinia - Kenya S4E5983 (17294754976).jpg Pale prinia Prinia somalicaHorn of Africa
River Prinia (Prinia fluviatilis).jpg River prinia Prinia fluviatiliswestern Sahel and far north-western Kenya
Black-chested Prinia (Prinia flavicans) (51094318785).jpg Black-chested prinia Prinia flavicanssouthern Africa
Karoo (Spotted) Prinia (10537833606).jpg Karoo prinia Prinia maculosafar-southern Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho
Prinia Drakensberg 2011 12 13 07 33 44 7225 Cedara.jpg Drakensberg prinia Prinia hypoxanthaeastern South Africa and Swaziland
Prinia molleri 9711829.jpg São Tomé prinia Prinia molleriSão Tomé Island
Prinia bairdii 29057092.jpg Banded prinia Prinia bairdiicentral Africa
Red-winged Prinia eating a grasshopper - Gambia (32527882031).jpg Red-winged prinia Prinia erythropteraSub-Saharan Africa (except central, southern and Horn of Africa)
Red-fronted Prinia iNaturalist.jpg Red-fronted prinia Prinia rufifronseastern Sahel and Horn of Africa

Species formerly in Prinia but now moved to Laticilla in family Pellorneidae: [5]

References

  1. "Cisticolidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. Horsfield, Thomas (1821). "Systematic arrangement and description of birds from the Island of Java". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 13: 133–200 [165]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1821.tb00061.x. Title page dated 1822
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 128.
  4. Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  189. ISBN   0-19-854634-3.
  5. 1 2 Olsson, U.; Irestedt, M.; Sangster, G.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Alström, P. (2013). "Systematic revision of the avian family Cisticolidae based on a multi-locus phylogeny of all genera". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 66 (3): 790–799. Bibcode:2013MolPE..66..790O. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.004. PMID   23159891.
  6. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Grassbirds, Donacobius, tetrakas, cisticolas, allies". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 March 2025.