Dunnock? What’s that?

We take a lot for granted. The trees near sidewalks, insects around our houses, even the birds we see everyday. Truth is, not paying attention isn’t really going to hurt us in any way.

But what if we did? What if we actually looked at something that we barely glance at everyday and asked ourselves a simple question; ‘What is that’? More often than not, we would be surprised by the answer.

New Zealand is a land of birds. Some native species like the Kakapo, Kea, Kaka or the Tui are quite unmistakable in appearance and garner a lot of attention wherever they are seen. But there are other non-native species here, those that have been introduced into the country for various reasons by settlers, those which can easily go unnoticed.

One of the many non-native species of birds here are the Dunnocks. They are also known as Hedge Sparrows, though they are not related to the Sparrow family. Their resemblance in color and size to the common house sparrow has earned them this name. But the similarities end here.

Photo by Karsten cc by sa

Dunnocks are found almost everywhere in New Zealand from forests to suburban gardens and even in the hedges lining the footpaths. They are not particularly striking in appearance but they more than make up for it with their mating behaviour.

During the breeding season, the Dunnocks display an amazing pattern of breeding behaviours which involves Monogamy (one male and one female), Polyandry (one female with two or more male mates), Polygyny (one male with two or more female mates). This type of mating system exists in about 2% of all the bird species in the world. In other words, it is very rare. Most reasons for this kind of mating system points toward one direction, extra care for the chicks thereby giving them a better chance of survival.

Cloaca Pecking in Dunnocks

Photo by Harres cc by

The way they participate in this mating ritual is incredible. Lets take an example of a Polyandrous system with one female and two males. The female mates with the first male and while he isn’t looking, she slips away slyly and mates with the second male. Later, when the chicks hatch they are fed by both males as each male believes that he is the father of the chicks. As a result the chicks have a much better chance of survival.

I chose Dunnocks as the stars for my two minute film which I made as an assignment for class. The film also includes an interview with an Otago University scientist, Eduardo Santos who is studying these birds for his PhD.

So its probably easier to get on with our daily lives without noticing much but maybe, just maybe if we did, our lives would become a tad more interesting.