Black-throated Prinia

The black-throated prinia (Prinia atrogularis) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in the eastern Himalayas from eastern Nepal through northern India, Bhutan and southwestern China. The species was considered to be the same species as the hill prinia, a widespread species in Southeast Asia, and the rufous-crowned prinia of eastern India and Myanmar, but is now treated as a separate species on the basis of morphology, song and genetic studies. The rufuos-crowned prinia is considered its closest relative based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, and they are thought to have diverged from each other 3.4 million years ago.

The black-throated prinia is a large prinia, 12 to 17 cm (4.7–6.7 in) and weighing 8–16 g (0.28–0.56 oz). Its tail is extremely long, making up to 10 cm (3.9 in) of its total length. Males and females look alike, but males are slightly larger than females and have a comparatively longer tail. The throat is white during the non-breeding season, but is black, breaking up into black splotches on the breast, during the breeding season.