A slightly disgruntled-looking Dunnock, Prunella modularis, standing with its feet buried in snow.
Dunnocks, also known as Hedge Accentors, are unassuming and dainty ‘little brown jobs’ at first sight. But looking more closely, they are actually subtly attractive birds in shades of warm brown and grey. They tend to feed on the ground, preferring that to coming up onto a bird feeder to feed. Their bills are fine, revealing that they are insect-eaters, but in winter they will eat seeds which are put out for them.
In my garden, Dunnocks tend to be bullied regularly by Robins, which are a similar shape. In fact a lot of people think, and I probably used to think, that Dunnocks are female Robins.
For such unassuming and relatively ‘drab’ birds, they have a diverse mating and reproductive system, the most common being polyandry.
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