Himalayan Prinia (Prinia crinigera) [XC390470]
by Sreekumar Chirukandoth from Sigri, Uttarakhand, India (call, ticking)
Himalayan Prinia (Prinia crinigera) [XC472975]
by Peter Boesman from Pangot, Uttarakhand, India (song)
Subspecies
Forms a species pair with Brown Prinia (Prinia polychroa) and long considered conspecific, and the two are vocally very similar, but they differ in habitat and altitude preferences, as well as in breeding plumages, and more or less replace each other geographically. Subspecies parumstriata intergrades with catharia in Sichuan (central China). Dark birds from Meghalaya (north-eastern India) described as subspecies assamica, currently merged with catharia but possibly worthy of recognition. Species name is a Latin adjective and must agree with current genus name.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
striatula (Hume, 1873) - Eastern Afghanistan (Jalalabad and Nuristan) and hills of western Pakistan (Salt Range south to south-eastern aluchistan).
crinigera Hodgson, 1836 - Himalayas from northern Pakistan (Murree Hills) east to north-eastern India (Arunachal Pradesh).
catharia Reichenow, 1908 - North-eastern India (southern and eastern Assam, Nagaland, Manipur), northern and western Myanmar and southern and central China (northern Yunnan, southern Shaanxi, south-western Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou).
parvirostris (La Touche, 1922) - South-eastern Yunnan (southern China).
parumstriata (David & Oustalet, 1877) - South-eastern and central China from southern Jiangsu and Anhui south to Guangxi and Guangdong, western in Yangtze Valley to northern Hunan and Red Basin of Sichuan.
striata Swinhoe, 1859 - Taiwan.
assamica (Baker, ECS, 1924) - North-eastern India.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet