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.
Taxonomy The genus was erected by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821. The type species is the bar-winged prinia (Prinia familiaris). Title page dated 1822 The name of the genus is derived from the Javanese prinya, the local name for the bar-winged prinia.
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. 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.
Species The genus contains 29 species:
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 cooki 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 molleri São Tomé Island Banded prinia Prinia bairdii central Africa 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: Rufous-vented grass babbler, Laticilla burnesii Swamp grass babbler, Laticilla cinerascens
References
Ryan, Peter (2006). "Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies)". pp. 378–492 in del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie D.A. (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers Lynx Edicions, Barcelona Urban, E.K.; Fry, C.H. & Keith, S. (1997) The Birds of Africa, vol. 5. Academic Press, London.