Prinia

Prinias
Bar-winged prinia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cisticolidae
Genus: Prinia
Horsfield, 1821
Ashy prinia (Prinia socialis) in Hyderabad, India
Plain prinia (Prinia inornata) in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Grey-breasted prinia (Prinia hodgsonii) in Shamirpet, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India

The prinias are a genus of small insectivorous birds belonging to the passerine bird family Cisticolidae. They are often also alternatively classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae. The name of the genus is derived from the Javanese prinya, the local name for the bar-winged prinia.[1]

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.

Species list in taxonomic order


Species formerly in Prinia but now considered distinct enough to warrant separate generic treatment:

References

  1. ↑ Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 0-19-854634-3.
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