The Himalayan prinia (''Prinia crinigera'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Cisticolidae 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. This family probably originated ...

. It was formerly lumped in with the striped prinia (''P. striata'') as the striated prinia. It is found in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and parts of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, with its range generally following the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. It is distributed in the countries of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and the

Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

in China. Populations in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, most of China, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

are now considered to belong to ''P. striata'' following a 2019 study. Both ''P. crinigera'' and ''P. striata'' are

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

in the Yunnan Province. There are four known subspecies: ''P. c. striatula'', which is known from the mountains of Afghanistan and west Pakistan (the palest subspecies); ''P. c. crinigera'', which is distributed from north Pakistan to

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

in northeast India; ''P. c. yunnanensis'', which is restricted to the northwestern Yunnan Province in China, and ''P. c. bangsi'' in the southeastern Yunnan Province. ''P. c. bangsi'' was formerly considered a subspecies of Deignan's prinia (formerly the brown prinia) until the 2019 study.

Description

Its tail is long and broad, with a cold-toned dark color. It exhibits significant sexual dimorphism in both size and color. Appearance varies by season. During the non-breeding season, both sexes have streaking on the upper parts and mottling on the sides of the face and breast. During the breeding season, males have a blackish crown, which is paler around the edges in many individuals. The face is blackish, and the sides of the breast are dark and mottled. The mantle is streaked, but not as distinctly as the crown. The bill is blackish. Breeding females are lighter in color and have less streaking. The bill is pale pinkish, darker from the tip to the lower mandible.

References

Himalayan prinia Birds of the Himalayas Birds of Northeast India Birds of Pakistan Birds of Afghanistan Himalayan prinia Taxa named by Brian Houghton Hodgson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cisticolidae-stub