A songbird that’s full of surprises

Richard Collins is fascinated by the colourful habits of dunnocks.

A songbird that’s full of surprises

MOST birds are silent at this time of the year. The robin is the only regular singer, but close to where I live a dunnock performs regularly. This is rather odd, but then dunnocks often have surprises up their sleeves. For instance, there are about 1.6 million of these self-effacing little birds in Ireland, according to the Atlas of Breeding Birds. They are six times as numerous as willie-wagtails and yet few people even recognise the name dunnock.

People and birds, who lead exciting lives, drawing attention to themselves, are usually glamorously attired, while plain individuals, with bland lifestyles, go unnoticed. The dunnock, however, bucks the trend; although it’s a plain Jane, its behaviour is often scandalous.

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