prinia

▪ bird

      any bird of the large genus Prinia, belonging to the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae. Prinias are sometimes called longtail warblers or wren-warblers, from their long, graduated tails, which are carried, wrenlike, cocked up. Prinias, 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) long, are more strongly marked than most sylviids. They make beautifully woven purselike nests, which are suspended from twigs or attached to tall grass stalks; often the nest is sewn to the foliage.

      Abundant in most of sub-Saharan Africa and from Bangladesh to Indochina, in rank growth and garden shrubbery, is the tawny flanked prinia (P. subflava). Also well known is the black-chested prinia (P. flavicans) of southern Africa. The ashy prinia (P. socialis) is one of the most common birds found in India.

* * *