Red-fronted Prinia
Prinia rufifrons
A long-tailed, slim, distinctive warbler of dry country. Gray-brown on the upperparts and whitish below, with white marks on the wing and outer tail. The tail is frequently cocked up and wagged from side to side. Found in dry thorn savanna and thornscrub, usually in pairs. Similar in shape to other prinias, but easily separated by the red forehead. Could be mistaken for some cisticolas, but shows white in the wing, and distinctive tail-wagging behavior. Song consists of long series of a musical or scolding note, sometimes punctuated by short series of a different kind of note; can be similar to Pale Prinia’s song, but generally much more varied.
Taxonomy
The red-fronted prinia was described by the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell in 1840 under the binomial name Prinia rufifrons. The type locality is Eritrea (the coastal region of Abyssinia). The specific epithet rufifrons comes from the Latin rufus for "red" and frons for "forehead" or "front".<p>There are three subspecies:<p>Many taxonomists place this species in the genus Prinia rather than in its own monotypic genus Urorhipis. Support for this alternative placement is provided by a molecular phylogenetic study of the Cisticolidae published in 2013 that found that the red-fronted warbler was closely related to the prinias.
- Scientific name
- Prinia rufifrons
- Authority
- Rüppell, 1840
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
- Genus
- Prinia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Rufous Hornero
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Maroon Pigeon
Columba thomensis
A large, very dark pigeon with a grayish head, a burgundy body with scattered small white spots, and a bright yellow bill and legs. Female is duller than the male. A scarce species found singly and in pairs in the canopy of primary and secondary forest, more frequently above 1300 meters of elevation; attends fruiting trees. Mostly quiet and inconspicuous, but gives a rolling, growling “crrr-crrow-rrrow-rrrow-rrrow” and other low-pitched pigeon-like cooing. Smaller Sao Tome Pigeon has a gray breast and an iridescent green nape and lacks Maroon Pigeon’s yellow feet and bill.
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