Tawny-flanked Prinia

Overview

The tawny-flanked prinia (Prinia subflava) is a small passerine bird belonging to the family Cisticolidae. It is widespread and common across most parts of Africa south of the Sahara.

Identification

• 11–12 cm in length with a long, narrow, graduated tail that is often held erect or waved from side to side.
• Grey-brown upperparts with rufous-brown flight feather edges and a rufous tinge to the rump, contrasting with whitish throat and breast and warm buff flanks and vent.
• A whitish stripe over the eye and dark lores, with tail feathers featuring a white tip and a dark subterminal band.
• A short, wheezy call that is rapidly repeated, and a song consisting of a monotonous series of shrill notes.

Habitat

It is found amongst shrubs and grass in a variety of habitats including woodland, savanna, and cultivated areas. The species is distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the driest and wettest regions such as the Congo Basin, southern Namibia, and south-west Botswana.

Diet

It feeds on insects and other invertebrates, foraging in small flocks that move through shrubs and undergrowth.

Did you know?

The species was formally described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin based on a hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet that accompanied the Comte de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.