Alternative names: Spotted Prinia
- Prinia maculosa
Identification
13-15 cm long (mass 10 g), round wings, long tail, short, straight black bill. White eyebrow, brown upperparts, white throat and lower face, yellow-white streaked underparts, pink-brown legs and feet, dark brown eye. Sexes identical. Juveniles more yellow below and less streaked.
Distribution
Taxonomy
Three subspecies: P. m. psammophila from extreme southern Namibia, western Northern Cape, and north-western Western Cape, is paler above than nominate; P. m. maculosa from Western Cape, Eastern cape and southern Northern Cape; P. m. exultans from Lesotho and adjacent parts of Eastern Cape and Free State, is more heavily streaked than nominate;
Drakensberg Prinia was formerly considered a subspecies of this species.
Habitat
Shrublands, coastal and mountain scrub, rank grass, weedy areas, thickets and gardens.
Behaviour
It builds a thin-walled oval nest with a side entrance from green grass.
Diet includes insects.
References
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ & Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Robert's Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edition. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 0620340533
