Banded Prinia (Prinia bairdii) [XC667418]
by BurBenj from Bakoumba, Lekoko, Haut-Ogooue, Gabon (uncertain)
Banded Prinia (Prinia bairdii) [XC497374]
by BurBenj from Nyoni\u00e9, Estuaire, Gabon (song)
Subspecies
Banded Prinia (Prinia bairdii) and Black-faced Prinia (Prinia melanops) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped into Prinia bairdii following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993).
Aberrant prinia, sometimes placed in its own genus, Herpystera. Subspecies melanops and obscura sometimes treated as a separate species on basis of plumage differences and more montane habitat, but a narrow zone of hybridization with nominate exists in eastern DRCongo.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
bairdii (Cassin, 1855) - South-eastern Nigeria south to northern Angola (Cabinda), east to southern Central African Republic, northern DRCongo and western Uganda.
obscura (Neumann, 1908) - Highlands of eastern DRCongo, western Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Black-faced Prinia (Prinia melanops).
melanops (Reichenow and Neumann, 1895) - Esst-central. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-faced Prinia (Prinia melanops).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet