Things you need to know about DUNNOCKS!

What do dunnocks eat? Where do they nest? How long do they live for? You will find out all of these answers in more in this Dunnock fact-file.
Sometimes referred to as a hedge sparrows despite appearances Dunnocks are not closely related to sparrows at all and are in fact the UK’s only member of the accentor family. They have a wingspan of 19 to 21 cm and grow to 19 to 24 grams in weight. Dunnocks are mottled chestnut brown over most of their bodies with grey chests and heads with noticeable brown cheeks. Unlike true sparrows, dunnocks have thin and pointed beaks. They are a common garden resident and are also seen in deciduous woodlands, parkland, heathland and farmland edges. Throughout most of the year a dunnocks diet is almost entirely made up of insects and other invertebrates but during the colder months when these are in short supply, they will also feed on seeds, sometimes visiting bird feeders but usually hoovering up seeds from underneath them.
David Attenborough made the dunnock famous in his documentary, Life of birds where he uncovered some of their varied and complex breeding strategies. Its been found that although they can form single faithful pairs, this is often not the case with some females mating with multiple males, some males mating with multiple females and sometimes 2 pairs forming and working together in a 4 way relationships. Dunnocks typically start nesting April onwards with the female creating a cup shaped nest of twigs lined with moss and hair. Once complete she will lay 3 to 5 blue eggs that measure around 20mm in length. She will incubate the eggs alone for 12 to 13 days but once the chicks hatch, the father or potential fathers will help her to feed the rapidly growing chicks. It takes just 12 days for the chicks to be ready to fledge, although if the weather is bad or food is in short supply they can remain in the nest for longer than this. Once they do fledge, the chicks stay in their parents territory for a further 3 to 4 weeks after which point they will be fully independent. Each female dunnock will nest 2 to 3 times per year, using the same nest each time if it remains intact and sometimes even using the same nest for multiple years. Interestingly, Dunnocks are one of the favoured target species for nesting cuckoos who I will cover in a future video.
In the UK and in western Europe Dunnocks are resident all year round but in northern Europe and Russia they are migratory, staying to breed and then heading south into southern Europe and west Asia to spend the winter. Outside of this natural range Dunnocks have been successfully introduced into new Zealand.
In the UK there are an estimated 2.5 million dunnocks and over the past 50 years their numbers have been slowly growing following a share decline in the 1970s. They have an average lifespan of around 2 years but the oldest known dunnock survived to 11 years and 3 months of age.
Thanks to Scottish birders and nests who provided some of the footage used in this video. here is their channel:
• Dunnock Nest Feeding C...
Cave O'Beirne also supplied some of the footage used in this video, his channel can be found at:
• Dunnock Chicks in nes...
Some of the other footage and images used were obtained using creative commons licences, the originals and their licence details can be found at:
• Dunnock (Hedge Sparrow...
• Heggemussen paren / Du...
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• Accenteur mouchet (Pru...
• Accenteur mouchet (Pru...
• Голоса птиц: Лесная за...
• Pěvuška modrá (Prunell...
• ACCENTEUR Mouchet/Prun...
• junge Heckenbraunelle ?
• Accenteur mouchet
• 12 Febbraio 2012 - Bar...
• Poursuite Rougegorge f...
• Faune du Jardin Intéri...
• Video
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#dunnock #britishbirds #gardenbirds

[@terencemeikle534]

They're beautiful little birds: their plumage may be 'merely' brown and grey, but if looked at more closely, it reveals a wealth of subtle shadings and intriguing details. Along with robins, they are a winter pal: buoyant, cheery, busily going about their business. 👌

[@janicevango5791]

To me the dunnocks we get in our garden have an almost striped look on their back.

[@assymcgee7217]

You gotta love them dunnocks

[@Crow_Friend]

Dunnocks are definitely a favourite of mine, you can make friends with them, where i used to live they used to come to my window for grated cheese & in the summer the pair would bring the whole family to visit. Little peepers 😍❤😍

[@johnsweet2347]

Very nice little birds keep going with viedos there well narrated and filmed

[@WarrenPeace007]

I love having them in my garden

[@Compo67]

Definitely a favourite garden bird . We have them in our garden all year round. I was surprised to hear their song on the video here, as they seem so quiet in our garden. Cracking video Liam 👍

[@allenmorgan]

Ever had one of those conversations when someone says "Oh, I only have sparrows in my garden", when they mean dunnocks? As if being surrounded by these wonderful characters is some sort of ornithological consolation prize.

[@Anne-ku3lj]

Also, isn’t a dunnock twice the size of a sparrow and darker in appearance overall? Sparrows have a distinctive light grey face and black beard, no?

[@jess53nz]

One of my absolute favourite birds! One day i saw one singing on the fence and couldn't believe the song coming out of such a tiny bird!

[@nikiTricoteuse]

One of their other names is hedge warbler. Seems very apt. 😊

[@jess53nz]

@@nikiTricoteuse oh lovely

[@riversong656]

I have them in my garden all year round and at the seed feeder. So pretty.

[@MyKharli]

Very sweet shy birds that live in a hedge near my back door . Never on my bird feeders but will get the crumbs on the floor . I think weasels and woodpeckers prey on them as they do to all reachable nests

[@unmissable]

I love dunnocks. They nest in my back garden. I have lots of them. They can be very bold. Lots of fun.

[@PeekAtWildlife]

Excellent documentary on these beautiful birds!

[@kerrykestrowl6785]

Cute chunky birb❤

[@Keapix]

I love our dunnocks. They’re the bravest of our birds, and are always tidying up after the messy ones.

[@steve20664]

Fantastic, I've a few come in my garden ,they quite tame.👍😎

[@anneross1021]

I had one nesting in a hedge outside my bedroom window for the last couple of years

[@sachatroy]

Auld folk round my way used tae cry them smokies! Another great video Liam. Cheers.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Cheers!

[@angr3819]

We used to have loads of house sparrows in outer London up to the 70's. They gradually disappeared. I never imagined not seeing them, as they were so very common.

[@johnzenkin1344]

@angr....yes, I agree! In the 1960's I lived on a large council estate in Birmingham, which had lots of hedges and trees, every day you would see large flocks of Sparrows squabbling and flying from bush to bush. I still occasionally visit my birthplace...but the Sparrows don't exist any more. I now live in a rural area with lots of greenery everywhere....but no Sparrows here either!...where have they gone? But on the plus side.....there are always Dunnocks in my garden where I live now.

[@equiliforce]

Excellent ! I love this little bird 👍

[@RYANandMICHELLEchannel]

Fascinating birds! Love watching the little babies getting fed

[@buskingkarma2503]

I really like your energy, when it comes the passion you have for wildlife!👌 thanks for the great video's bro, Ireally enjoy watching,and learning!👍

[@libbybaker86]

I didn't know about the different shaped beak. That will make them much easier to identify. Thanks Liam

[@roaminghereandthere]

Thanks Liam Such good content!

[@auroraborealis2442]

Another great, very informative video, thank you.

[@dexocube]

Beautiful creatures

[@missapippin9020]

They are beautiful Thank you very for for this informative video. Take care

[@annamae859]

Great video. I hadn't seen a Dunnock in over 30 years until I moved to semi rural Hertfordshire last year. Now I have a number of them that visit my balcony daily hoovering up the spills from the hanging bird feeders, and theres plenty to forage for after the messy blue and great tits and sparrows have had their fill. I think the wee Dunnocks are fast becoming my favourite visitors.

[@williamrobinson7435]

Comprehensive and beautifully presented as ever. The dunnock's a great little bird! Nice one Liam. 🌟👍

[@brperolls]

Yet another great video Liam. The wife and I love your videos and quite often spend the evening watching them. Thank you.

[@andrewfinch2009]

This is good timing. With RSPB garden bird watch next weekend, it’s good to have a clear definition between dunnocks and sparrows, so I don’t count them wrongly. Thanks Liam

[@brigiddonnelly8565]

Thank you

[@nikiTricoteuse]

Thanks for this interesting video. I'm constantly getting sparrows and dunnocks muddled up. But, l'm pleased to see one of the dunnocks eating fat :3.02 as, l've not seen that before. l'm watching from Aotearoa/ New Zealand and as it's winter here l have been feeding my garden birds. My favorite of the ones that visit my garden here in the city is the wax-eye or tauhou, which means newcomer or stranger in Māori. They're believed to have been blown here from Australia where They're indigenous, sometime in the 1830s. Because they're such tiny birds we put out apples, sugar water and lard for them as well as seeds for the sparrows and dunnocks. I've never seen a dunnock eating anything but seeds though, so perhaps it's the lard they don't like.

[@mary-kittybonkers2374]

I love dunnocks, they are so pretty, and they are such characters. I don’t think that their plumage is dull at all, it’s beautifully subtle with gorgeous shading of browns and greys. I’ve discovered that the dunnocks in my area have different songs and calls at different points in the year. During the mating season they have a pretty trill which is as complex as a wren’s song but scratchier, and at other times their call is a simple cheep. I’ve been watching a dunnock this week in the garden and it seems to tolerate some birds such as blackbirds, robins, goldcrests and long tailed tits and even wood pigeons close to its home feeding station, whom they clear up after. In contrast it keeps well away when the corvids and starlings are close by. They are very interesting little birds.

[@auldfouter8661]

They're called Blue Dikeys in Scotland.

[@thomasowens5824]

Morning. Apparently the Dunnocks in West Scotland, Hebrides and Northern Ireland are ever so slightly different, but I get that, I have one in my garden N.W.England and that creamy grey front is a bit darker and slightly bluish tint in certain light.

[@nickiramsay2421]

I love Dunnocks, I have 2 that live in my garden that always come to watch me when I’m refilling the bird feeders. I call them my winged mice because of the way they scurry about in the undergrowth.

[@celestenova777]

See them now again on country walks but not in the garden. Lovely little birds, thanks for video, always full of interesting information.

[@tuberocker69]

I love sparrows and dark eyed juncos, both of which keep me company during the winter months in Oklahoma My favorite birds 🐦😊🐦

[@vetworker]

Great video mate. Alongside the blue tit the Dunnock is the most common bird in my garden but I didn’t know much about them until now. 👍👍👍

[@philiptaylor7902]

Great video Liam. The Dunnock is an often overlooked bird. The old country name is “flutter wing” due to their display of flapping their wings. I didn’t know they had been introduced to New Zealand, but when I was there I remember the native Grey Warblers as being very similar in size, appearance and habit.

[@nickwebb9290]

Thanks for super video. And all this time I’ve probably been mistaking Dunnocks for Sparrows

[@Mouse2113]

I have 2 that come into my garden in NE Scotland. Rarely see them together and usually eating seeds off the ground. Occasionally they will sit on my fence and sing

[@mandyhernon2238]

Fascinating, will have to check out your channel to see if you have covered bumble bees. Hope so...

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks, Mandy. I'm glad you liked the video. I haven't done bumble bees yet, but it's a great suggestion that I will add to my list for the future. There are plenty of bird videos amd other wildlife already on the channel though so I hope you'll give them a look. Cheers.

[@grahamjordan1040]

Nothing like a sparrow they have a beak for eating insects and their nest is a very neat construction unlike the sparrow

[@mikesphotography7185]

Hi Liam I've seen more Dunnocks while I've been out photographing barn owls than ever before, and can be seen in my new Barn Owl video coming out soon. I will put a link to this video, keep up the good work. 😎

[@steernaught]

I have this bird feeder on my window, and the dunnocks feed all year round on the sunflower hearts I put out. I even see chicks being fed on my window ledge. Maybe they’ve developed a taste for it or something.

[@paulwarner5674]

No idea if I have these dunnock in my garden.i just think I have lots of sparrows( 60 or so). A Robin or two Lots of starlings, pidgeons, magpies, crows, and the occasional sparrow hawk and a couple of squirrels. I fill the feeders 2 or 3 times daily It costs a fortune especially the meal worms but it's nice to watch the hedge so alive with birds.

[@user-wf1rz3np3r]

I have just seen a pair mating in my garden. 😊

[@nickrider5220]

Lovely video of a lovely little bird, so glad you put their song on it too 👍

[@Janescheekychickens]

I discovered by accident a nest in a small evergreen tree in the back end of my back garden where I've been tydying up and putting a new fence in.. Annoyingly I'd trimmed the tree before discovering it... There are three eggs. Luckily my trimming has not discouraged them. And one egg has hatched today. After watching this I will leave this tree alone now to re grow. And hopefully they will continue to breed there. I have also got some robins in the front area of my back garden building a nest somewhere in our Lean-to. So exciting.💝

[@Crow_Friend]

Dunnocks have a grey or dark grey chest, are smaller & are always on the ground or in low lying shrubbery. They have a distinctive way of hopping around & also have a very high pitched 'peeping' call they make, especially the warning PEEEEP they give for cats which is so loud i've seen them make cats run off by blasting it near to the cats sensitive ears - Very funny to watch 🙂

[@mazhayumveyilum5el5i]

Thanks now i can identifies this small bird. Plz add scientific name also. It can help others watching same bird in different countries. 🙏

[@Crow_Friend]

Prunella modularis.

[@angelalayton1655]

Nice beanie Liam and what lovely little birds they are and their eggs are so pretty lovely colour 😊

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks Angela, it was a birthday present :) yes, there are a few birds that have eggs of a similar colour but I don't know what the advantage is. I'll look it up.

[@Anne-ku3lj]

Camouflage apparently. Darker eggs have better UV protection too allegedly. birds that leave their eggs alone for long hours have dark eggs, light eggs are laid by those whose stay close by. Please do a video on whether any of this is true!! Anne.

[@raymondpenalver7095]

Thanks for the great video on one off our very underated looking birds Liam 🐦 😀

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks Raymond. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Are there any species you would like me to do future videos about?

[@raymondpenalver7095]

@@AShotOfWildlife How about something on insects when the weather gets warmer 🤔

[@Redn87]

Right On!!! We had a dead plant outside. Found a nest with 5 eggs inside. They hatched and we found out the are Dunnocks. What age will they start eating seeds?

[@bernardshieldstysonfive1009]

Hi Liam brilliant video I have several of them visiting my garden and about 30 houses sparrows I do put a variety of food out for the wild birds keep up the good work and videos Bernard

[@keithedmunds7536]

exellent we got a few on the bird feeders along with blue tits and sparrows great video thanks for sharing

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks Keith. I'm glad you liked the video, they're quite a common species so I don't know how I managed to emit them until now. Next up, the song thrush!

[@baldyhead]

These birds are plentiful in my garden, though, as you say, there were fewer years ago and more sparrows, which are rarely seen these days.

[@Crow_Friend]

The decline in sparrows is very sad.

[@Crow_Friend]

@@madisntit6547 I read that Sparrowhawks kill 2000 sparrows & other small birds or 500 blackbirds, thrushes or 250 young Crows, jays, magpies (obviously they would predate a combination of all 3) just in a single successful breeding season. The RSPB's obsessed with raptors & introduces and protects them everywhere but in the same breath traps & kills around 500 Crows per year to 'protect' other birds species. Ridiculous. Where i live there are no sparrows or thrushes left at all 😞

[@Crow_Friend]

@@madisntit6547 Yup, cats kill millions of birds a year, probably worse 'cos they're a non-native predator. In Australia they go out shooting them 😮

[@AriesAdams-rb5lh]

Have loads in my garden and starlings but o have a seed feeder and bird bath

[@annamae859]

I have come back to this video to watch and listen again, just to see how unusual it is for Dunnocks to go to a hanging bird feeder. Maybe just as unusual as I first thought, but I have never seen before until these last couple of weeks. I watched her making several attempts until she finally got the knack, now she is back 20+ times a day, I guess she has chicks to feed. It's only the one Dunnock that does this, the others are still content to hoover up the spills in the balcony, and there is plenty to go round as the blue and great tits are particularly messy. So I know miss Dunnock is not using the feeder out of necessity, but rather is opportunistic.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

I have to say, I have never seen one actually go to the feeder but always on the ground beneath it. Very interesting and I wonder if she will teach her pending chicks tge sane thing.

[@annamae859]

@@AShotOfWildlife I am hoping that she will because she has been very entertaining. I already have Robin parents bringing their chicks to the feeder and teaching them. But it will be much more exciting if the Dunnock does this.

[@annamae859]

@@AShotOfWildlife I'm happy to report the mama dunock has taught her chick (sadly only one) to use the feeder. Now I have the both of them as regular visitors. Mama is able to use two different feeders, one of which hangs a greater distance from the balcony railings so she has to launch herself further. I deliberately swapped two feeders around as I know she loves her meal worms and I wanted to see if she was up for a challenge.

[@garymoore7914]

Great video as always. After watching this and you recent song thrush video I was wondering why so many birds lay blue eggs, what is the advantage?

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks Gary. I'll give you the short answer, it's to do with stopping them from overheating. I am going to do a video, possibly a very short video on this in the next week or so.

[@garymoore7914]

@@AShotOfWildlife thank you.

[@darrenporter1850]

I've just seen them under hedge being boring. Few months ago, saw a bird singing when out for a walk.. completely confused me when discovered was a dunnock. Like 2 different birds.

[@jillatherton4660]

👍

[@Jawst]

I just uploaded a video of two dunnocks mating right next to the back door of my house!!! Not very good quality, unfortunately, since it was through a double-glazed window!

[@paulohara1502]

👏👏👍🤩

[@gillianrands4019]

Hi Liam it's me Ciara your neice btw when can I next come round Bridie so fun

[@thomasowens5824]

Respectfully, I would have liked you to do a side by side of the Female house sparrow, not the male, given how easy it is to mix up and also the subtleties of the Scottish Dunnock compared to the more Southern England variant...thanks.

[@James48535]

Liam why are Dunnocks called Dunnocks ?

[@barneylaurance1865]

The OED says the name was formed as dun + ock. Dun is the colour, -ock is a diminutive. So it basically means LBJ. The first usage listed in the OED is from the year 1483.

[@NaturallyCuriousUK]

Nice one Liam. The Dunnock is a somewhat under-rated bird in my opinion. I love their cheerful song, which I feature (along with the Robin's and Wren's) in my "How To ID Garden Bird Songs: Robin, Wren, & Dunnock" video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZTFdX9vnc6hhNE . Keep up the good content mate. 👍🙂👍

[@moonraker978]

German: Heckenbraunelle, Hecken= hedge; -braunelle (Prunella)

[@grahamjordan1040]

Wow just wow 🤣

[@ReggieChump]

Can someone tell the truth about cats & dogs regarding wildlife. Let's do a Cat-Toilet (some still call it a garden) bird watch for how many are tortured to death by the aforementioned. Put bird feeders up then let your cat out... NOT compos mentis people. I'm a gardener and I see so many birds/small animals getting mauled. We have 13 acres of land and my Mum's skanky dog has got hold of several deer and mauled them. "I LIKE wildlife, but I enjoy torturing it all?"

[@ramblingrob4693]

Good video, Dunnocks are boring

[@davidbrearley1541]

Hi Liam, we have lots of birds visit our garden….you’re our go to identifier……love your enthusiasm.

[@assymcgee7217]

You gotta love them dunnocks