Prinia

Last updated

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
Clade: Dinosauria
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 30 species: [6]

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

Related Research Articles

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 ten 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. A smaller number of warblers, together with some babblers formerly placed in the family Timaliidae and the parrotbills, are retained in a much smaller family Sylviidae.

<i>Cisticola</i> Genus of birds

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cisticolidae</span> Family of birds

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tailorbird</span> Genus of birds

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.

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

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.

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

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.

<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">Red-winged prinia</span> Species of bird

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.

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

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.

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

The brown prinia is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. The Burmese prinia and the Annam prinia were formerly lumped with this species.

<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">Red-fronted prinia</span> Species of bird

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pellorneidae</span> Family of birds

The jungle 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.

<i>Laticilla</i> Genus of birds

Laticilla is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Pellorneidae. Members of the genus are found in Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

The striped prinia or Swinhoe's prinia is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It was formerly lumped with the Himalayan prinia as the striated prinia, but was split from it following a study published in 2019.

The Burmese prinia is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It and the Annam prinia were formerly lumped with Deignan's prinia as the brown prinia.

The Annam prinia is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It and the Burmese prinia were formerly lumped with Deignan's prinia as the brown prinia.

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. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.004. PMID   23159891.
  6. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Monarchs". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 July 2021.