Karoo prinia 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 of 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". The Karoo prinia is 13–15 cm long, with short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short straight black bill. The head has a whitish eyebrow and the upperparts are otherwise brown. The
Karoo as "Karoo". However, it has a major extension inland into the Tankwa Karoo and Moordenaarskaroo regions of the Lower Karoo, and adjoining Upper Karoo region of the geographic Great Karoo. It also occurs to the south, in part of the Breede River Valley, as the Robertson Karoo. From here, it continues eastwards into the western half of the Little Karoo. The Succulent Karoo biome is dominated by dwarf, leafy-succulent shrubs, and annuals, predominantly Asteraceae, popularly known as Namaqualand daisies, which put on spectacular flower displays covering vast stretches of the landscape in the southern spring-time (August–September) after good rains in