| Brown prinia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Illustration by Nicolas Hüet (1838) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Cisticolidae |
| Genus: | Prinia |
| Species: | P. polychroa |
| Binomial name | |
| Prinia polychroa (Temminck, 1828) | |
Thebrown prinia (Prinia polychroa) is a species ofbird in the familyCisticolidae. TheBurmese prinia (P. cooki) and theAnnam prinia (P. rocki) were formerly lumped with this species.[2][3]
It is found in mainlandSoutheast Asia, namely in most ofThailand,Laos,Vietnam, andCambodia, as well as on theIndonesian island ofJava. Its naturalhabitat issubtropical or tropical dry forest. Populations inMyanmar, far western Thailand, far western Laos, and southernChina are now considered to belong toP. cooki, while populations in theĐà Lạt Plateau ofVietnam and far eastern Cambodia are now considered to belongP. rocki.[3][2]
There are two recognised subspecies:P. p. deignani, which is found in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, andP. p. polychroa, which is restricted to Java.P. p. deignani was formerly considered an eastern population ofP. p. cooki (when it was considered a subspecies) until the 2019 study, which split the Burmese and south Chinese populations asP. cooki while reclassifying the Thai, Laotian, and Cambodian populations into a new subspecies,P. p. deignani.P. crinigera bangsi, now considered a subspecies of theHimalayan prinia (P. crinigera), was also formerly considered another south Chinese subspecies ofP. polychroa (P. p. bangsi) until the 2019 study.[3][2][4]
It was named after the American ornithologistHerbert Girton Deignan.[3]
