Karoo prinia
Prinia maculosa (Boddaert, 1783)
The karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa) is a species in the family Cisticolidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 8.1 g to 9.1 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the karoo prinia
- Weight
- 8.1 g – 9.1 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3 – 3.25src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the karoo prinia live?
Not recorded
What is the karoo prinia?
The Karoo prinia or spotted prinia (Prinia maculosa) is a small passerine bird. It is a resident breeder in South Africa, Lesotho and far southern Namibia.
It is a species found in karoo scrub, fynbos and bracken-covered slopes in semi-desert and mountains. The former eastern subspecies P. m. hypoxantha is now usually considered to be a separate species, the Drakensberg prinia, P. hypoxantha.
From the Wikipedia article “Karoo prinia” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karoo_prinia&oldid=1379250481), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the karoo prinia endangered?
The karoo prinia is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the karoo prinia classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCisticolidae
- genusPrinia
- SpeciesPrinia maculosa (Boddaert, 1783)
Synonyms Drymoica capensis, Drymoica macrowra, Motacilla maculosa
Other names and names in other languages (25)
- KAPREnglish
- KaroolangstertjieAfrikaans
- prínia del KarooCatalan
- prinie skvrnitáCzech
- prinia mannogWelsh
- FleckenprinieGerman
- karua prinioEsperanto
- Prinia del KarooSpanish
- täpläpriiniaFinnish
- Prinia du KarooFrench
- pjegava prinijaCroatian
- ゴマフハウチワドリJapanese
- dėmėtoji prinijaLithuanian
- flekkpriniaNorwegian
- prinia plamistaPolish
- prínia-malhadaPortuguese
- prínia-maculada-do-carruPortuguese
- Пятнистая принияRussian
- prinia škvrnitáSlovak
- Prinija iz KaruaSerbian
- karroopriniaSwedish
- Karu PrinyasıTurkish
- принія плямистогрудаUkrainian
- 斑鷦鶯Chinese
- 斑山鹪莺Chinese
Relatives of the karoo prinia
Other species in the same genus Prinia.
Plain prinia
Prinia inornata
Ashy prinia
Prinia socialis
Yellow-bellied prinia
Prinia flaviventris
Graceful prinia
Prinia gracilis
Grey-breasted prinia
Prinia hodgsonii
Brown prinia
Prinia polychroa
CompareKaroo prinia vs Plain priniaKaroo prinia vs Ashy priniaKaroo prinia vs Yellow-bellied priniaKaroo prinia vs Graceful prinia
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the karoo prinia?
An adult karoo prinia weighs 8.1 g – 9.1 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the karoo prinia endangered?
The karoo prinia is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the karoo prinia?
The karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa) belongs to the family Cisticolidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/karoo-prinia
“Karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/karoo-prinia.
@misc{karoo_prinia_2026,
title = {Karoo prinia (Prinia maculosa)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/karoo-prinia},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}