Hill Prinia
Prinia superciliaris
Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand
In the April of 2021 I had written about the Birds on the Doi and in August, the same year, I had discussed the beautiful Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird. Today we return again to the same hills for another montane resident - the large fierce-eyed and enchanting Hill Prinia. I spotted the Hill Prinia just down the road from where I had seen the Spot-breasted Parrotbill. But before I get into the Hill Prinia a brief on the location.
About 685 kilometers to the north of Bangkok lies the former seat of the ancient Lanna Kingdom & is considered one of the most scenic provinces in the country given its mountain ranges, valleys, flora and fauna. A land of misty mountains and colourful hill tribes, a playground for seasoned travellers, and a delight for adventurers. Despite its relatively small size and blissful calm, Chiang Mai truly has it all, a city that is still firmly Thai in its atmosphere and attitude. It is the second-largest changwat (province) of Thailand. Bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lampang and Lamphun to the south, Tak to the southwest, Mae Hong Son to the west and the Shan State of Myanmar to the north. Located in a verdant valley on the banks of the Ping River, Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the ancient Lanna Kingdom. Today it is a place where past and the present seamlessly merge with modern buildings standing side by side with venerable temples. Of all the places I have visited in Thailand, Chiang Mai with its forests and mountains and the historic city of Ayutthaya are by far my favourites.
The word Chiang itself is from North Thai, or Lanna, meaning town or city and Mai means new making Chiang Mai the New City as it was founded later than Chiang Rai, the earlier capital of King Meng Rai. The districts in the province are called amphoe, and sub-districts are called tambon. Another twist is the use of Nakhon (or Nakorn or Nakhorn), derived from the Sanskrit word Nagara, also means city, though strictly speaking it refers to a capital city such as Nakorn Sri Ayutthaya (more on Ayutthaya later). Indeed to emphasise its former status you may sometimes see Chiang Mai referred to as Nakhon Ping. Other common names of geographical features include mae (river) and doi which is north Thai for mountain - for example Doi Inthanon and Mae Ping.
The four Dois we spent our time on were Doi Inthanon, Doi Ang Khang, Doi Luang and Doi SanJu.
Doi Luang & Doi SanJu in close proximity to the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park, it is the second highest mountain in Thailand and a part of the Dan Lao Mountain range, northwest of Chiang Mai, sharing the border with Myanmar. Doi SanJu, can be easily accessed from Fang town. The mountain forest and no traffic make it easy to view birds. The entire area is very quiet, secluded and home to rare species like Mrs. Humes Pheasant, Long–tailed Sibia, Himalayan Cutia, Black–throated Tit, Black–eared Shrike Babbler, Whiskered Yuhina, Crimson–breasted Woodpecker, Fire–tailed Sunbird to name a few.
We didn’t have the good fortune to see all the species on all the mountains, that would have been impossible, but we did rack up quite a number of species - about 95 of them. The gallery today is of the large fierce-eyed and enchanting Hill Prinia.
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For a print of the beautiful birds from the Dois click on the button below to read my process and order a limited edition canvas.
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Hill Prinia
The Hill Prinia (Prinia superciliaris) is a species of passerine bird in the family Cisticolidae. Prinias are a genus of small insectivorous passerine birds which were, at one time, classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae. The prinias are sometimes also 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.
The genus was erected by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1821. The type species is the bar-winged prinia (Prinia familiaris). The name of the genus is derived from the Javanese prinya, the local name for the bar-winged prinia. A molecular phylogenetic study of the Cisticolidae published in 2013 found that the rufous-vented grass babbler did not lie within the clade containing the other prinias. Based on this analysis the rufous-vented prinia and the closely related swamp grass babbler were moved to the reinstated genus Laticilla in the family Pellorneidae.
The genus contains 30 species:
Himalayan prinia (Prinia crinigera) – formerly striated prinia
Striped prinia (Prinia striata) – split from P. crinigera
Brown prinia (Prinia polychroa)
Burmese prinia (Prinia cooki) – split from P. polychroa
Annam prinia (Prinia rocki) – split from P. polychroa
Black-throated prinia (Prinia atrogularis)
Rufous-crowned prinia (Prinia khasiana)
Hill prinia (Prinia superciliaris)
Grey-crowned prinia (Prinia cinereocapilla)
Rufous-fronted prinia (Prinia Buchanan)
Rufescent prinia (Prinia rufescens)
Grey-breasted prinia (Prinia hodgsonii)
Graceful prinia (Prinia gracilis)
Delicate prinia (Prinia lepida)
Jungle prinia (Prinia sylvatica)
Bar-winged prinia (Prinia familiaris)
Yellow-bellied prinia (Prinia flaviventris)
Ashy prinia (Prinia socialis)
Tawny-flanked prinia (Prinia subflava)
Plain prinia (Prinia inornata)
Pale prinia (Prinia somalica)
River prinia (Prinia fluviatilis)
Black-chested prinia (Prinia flavicans)
Karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa)
Drakensberg prinia (Prinia hypoxantha)
São Tomé prinia (Prinia molleri)
Banded prinia (Prinia bairdii)
Black-faced prinia (Prinia melanops) – usually considered as a subspecies of P. bairdii
Red-winged prinia (Prinia erythroptera)
Red-fronted prinia (Prinia rufifrons)
Species formerly in Prinia but now moved to Laticilla in family Pellorneidae:
Rufous-vented grass babbler (Laticilla burnesii)
Swamp grass babbler (Laticilla cinerascens)
The Hill Prinia is a large bird ranging in size between 16–20·5 cm. It has a rather slender, slightly decurved bill and very long graduated, pointed tail. Five subspecies of the Hill Prinia are recognised:
Prinia superciliaris erythropleura: Distributed in E Myanmar and NW Thailand.
Prinia superciliaris superciliaris: Distributed in NE India (NE S Assam and perhaps NE Arunachal Pradesh), NE Myanmar, S and SE China (S Sichuan, Yunnan, N Guangxi and N Guangdong E to C Fujian), NE Thailand, N Laos and N Vietnam (W and E Tonkin).
Prinia superciliaris waterstradti: Distributed on the summit of Mt Tahan, in Peninsular Malaysia.
Prinia superciliaris klossi: Distributed across S Laos (chiefly on Bolovens Plateau) and C Vietnam (C and S Annam, N Cochinchina).
Prinia superciliaris dysancrita: Distributed in W Sumatra.
The Hill Prinia is distinguished from the very similar P. crinigera by its un-streaked upperparts and a pronounced whitish supercilium. The adult (waterstradti) has lores, face and ear-coverts charcoal-black, a narrow white supraloral streak that meets a white supercilium, a sooty olive-brown cap and a slightly paler mantle to uppertail-coverts, plus wing-coverts and flight-feathers. The tail is similar, black-barred chin and throat, a white breast with sharply demarcated black feather edges forming short bold streaks at the lower edge, tawny-olive flanks, white belly and lower tail-coverts, and pale tawny thighs. The iris is pale to deep brown, bill black with horn-brown tip, and legs and feet brown-tinged orange or pinkish. The sexes are similar in plumage, with the male distinctly larger and relatively longer-tailed than the female. The juvenile is similar to a fresh-plumaged adult, but has a brown-tinged head, weaker face pattern, less distinct (or no) breast streaking and a shorter tail (waterstradti, but also nominate and dysancrita). Races differ mainly in colour of upperparts, prominence of supercilium and extent of black on underparts: the nominate in breeding plumage is almost olive-green above, with rufous-fringed flight-feathers, lacks white submoustachial stripe but has whitish supercilium, whitish underparts show little black (typically, only as speckling at sides of throat and breast), and in fresh non-breeding plumage may show no dark speckling at all, or it is confined to small smudges; klossi resembles previous, but the rump is tinged rufous, whitish underparts unmarked, and flanks paler buff than in most races; erythropleura has dull brown upperparts (inclining to rufous on rump in fresh plumage), a distinct whitish supercilium, greyish head-sides, and dark speckling below confined to breast side (not extending to the side of the throat); waterstradti is much darker grey-brown above than others, crown and nape particularly dark grey, flight-feathers weakly edged dull rufous, in worn (breeding) plumage extensive dark markings at breast-sides, becoming sparser towards breast centre, and with rich orange-buff flanks and undertail-coverts; and dysancrita has warm buff flanks and undertail-coverts, clear blackish streaking across chest, whitish throat and supercilium, grey sides of head and dull brown upperparts.
The Hill Prinia is found in China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. It was formerly considered con-specific with the black-throated prinia. In general, the species occupies scrub, clearings, cultivated and grassy areas, and undergrowth in open, dry woodland, but also dwarf moss forest in China. The race waterstradti is found in upper montane elfin forest and sparse heath vegetation, being found in both grasses and sedges as well as epiphyte-laden tree cover. Recorded mainly at 600–2500 m in China and 900–2565 m in Thailand, or 800–2200 m on Sumatra, but locally also in lowlands in N of island (dysancrita); in Peninsular Malaysia (waterstradti) found exclusively at 1500–2100 m; below 800 m in NE S Assam (nominate). It is generally considered resident, but a degree of altitudinal migration, particularly over N parts of range has been known to happen.
The diet of the Hill Prinia consists chiefly of insects and their larvae and they are usually encountered singly or in pairs, and typically very skulking, but forages also in noisy family parties (and then more obvious) of up to c. 5 individuals. It feeds low down among grassy or tangled vegetation and clambers up grass stalks, then dives back to ground level - gave me the impression of being almost hyperactive, with its tail twitching up and down and even vibrating from time to time as it worked its way through clumps of vegetation. If suddenly flushed, it flies low and hesitantly for a short distance before diving back into cover.
The Hill Prinia is not globally threatened and is listed as Least Concern. It is common to locally common over most of its extensive range but its presence in Cambodia has yet to be confirmed. The population of race waterstradti is naturally tiny, but its habitat is secure.
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