Plain Prinia (Prinia inornata) [XC473844]
by Frank Lambert from above Deshadan Hotel, Munnar, Pallivasal, Idukki, Kerala, India (call)
Plain Prinia (Prinia inornata) [XC859312]
by Sam Hambly from Yan Nawa (near Bangkok), Sathon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Thailand (song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Tawny-flanked Prinia (Prinia subflava), Pale Prinia (Prinia somalica) and River Prinia (Prinia fluviatilis). Sometimes treated as conspecific with Tawny-flanked Prinia (Prinia subflava), but differs vocally and, to some extent, in plumage coloration. However, situation is complicated by geographical variation. Further study is required. Sri Lankan subspecies insularis exhibits differences in song from mainland subspecies and perhaps also in need of further study.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
terricolor (Hume, 1874) - Extreme eastern Afghanistan (Jalalabad) and western Pakistan (NWFP and fringes of Baluchistan) eastern over north-western India (east to Vadodara) to south-western Nepal.
inornata Sykes, 1832 - Central and south-eastern India (southern from Gangetic Plain).
franklinii Blyth, 1844 - South-western India (southern Karnataka, Kerala, western Tamil Nadu).
insularis (Legge, 1879) - Sri Lanka.
fusca Hodgson, 1845 - Lowlands of Nepal east to Bhutan, Bangladesh, north-eastern India (east to Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur) and south-western Myanmar.
blanfordi (Walden, 1875) - North-central and eastern Myanmar, north-western Thailand and southern China (western Yunnan).
extensicauda (Swinhoe, 1860) - Southern and eastern China (northern and eastern Yunnan,western Sichuan east to Jiangxi and Zhejiang, also Hainan) south to northern Laos and northern Vietnam (Tonkin).
flavirostris (Swinhoe, 1863) - Taiwan.
herberti Baker, ECS, 1918 - Southern Myanmar (Tenasserim), central and eastern Thailand, Cambodia, central and southern Laos and central and southern Vietnam.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet