Helpston's wildlife

Dunnock or hedge sparrow

The tame hedge sparrow in its russet dress

Is half a robin for its gentle ways

And the bird loving dame can do no less

Than throw it out a crumble on the coldest days.

The dunnock [click to listen] remains a common garden bird in Helpston. It is not a sparrow at all, but rather the only British member of the accentor family.

On the continent it is an elusive and rarely seen bird. In Britain it is certainly not a showy bird, but is nevertheless easily seen as it feeds unobtrusively on the ground, never on bird feeders, often rummaging around underneath trees and bushes.

But don't be taken in by this lack of external show.

The dunnock's personal life is nothing if not racey and you may want to consider whether you want them in your garden after all!

Its mating system includes a good deal of partner swapping and embraces, as Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey note in 'Birds Britannica', 'polygyny (two females with a single male), polyandry (a female with two or three males) and polygynandry (two or three males sharing two, three or even four females)! Dunnocks mate more frequently than has been recorded for any other small bird - once or twice an hour over a 10 day period.