© © Arthur Grosset  

The Dunnock is a European bird. It is resident in north-west Europe from Germany,
through France to northern Spain and including the British Isles
but is migratory in most of the rest of Europe breeding in Scandinavia, eastern Europe and Russia
while wintering in southern Europe and into Turkey.

© Arthur Grosset
Originally a scrub and woodland edge bird it has adapted, particularly in Britain to hedges,
farms, parks, gardens and other shrubby areas.
It feeds mainly on insects found primarily on the ground but also eats seeds in winter.

Its colouring is rather like a House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, but its bill is thin
and pointed though it has a wide, rounded base.
It is generally difficult to see as it keeps in or close to cover but, when courting in the spring,
can become very visible.
Text above: Arthur Grosset


© - josef hlasek
It builds a neat nest low in a bush or conifer, laying 3-5 unspotted blue eggs.

The Dunnock will not be seen using a bird feeder,
but prefers to pick up food from the ground which has been dropped by other birds.

picture needed

It is a host of the Common Cuckoo.
It is likely that this association is recent, since other Cuckoo hosts have learned to discriminate
between eggs, and the Cuckoo has consequently evolved eggs that match those of its host.
In the case of the Dunnock, there is no resemblance, yet the Cuckoo eggs are accepted.


© - lubomir hlasek
This is a Robin-sized bird, 13.5-14 cm in length, fairly drab in appearance,
and somewhat resembling a small House Sparrow with its streaked back and general shape.
It is also brownish underneath, and has a fine pointed bill.
Adults have a grey head. The sexes are similarly coloured.


© Lasse Olsson
This species makes up for its drab appearance with its breeding behaviour.
Females are often polyandrous, breeding with two males at once,
and thus giving rise to sperm competition.
Males compete for mating access to the female,
but DNA fingerprinting has shown that chicks within broods often have different fathers.

Polyandry is rare in birds, with only about 2% of species showing such a mating system;
the majority are monogamous, where one male and one female breed together.
Last part of text: http://en.wikipedia.org/