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Black-throated Accentor

Black-throated Accentor

Prunella atrogularis

Identify the Black-throated Accentor by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Black-throated Accentor is a small, Dunnock-sized songbird that breeds in conifer thickets of the Urals, Tian Shan and Altai. Adults are streaked brown above with a black crown sides, face and throat, a bold pale supercilium and a warm orange-buff breast. It winters in scrub and farmland in south-west and Central Asia and is a rare vagrant to Europe.

Did you know?

  • Its name atrogularis means “black-throated”.
  • Accentors form their own small family, Prunellidae.

About the species

Identification

The size and shape of a Dunnock. In summer the black throat and cheeks stand out; in autumn plumage the black may be partly hidden by pale feather tips. It has a clear pale supercilium and paler underparts than a Dunnock, with an orange-buff breast. The sexes look alike.

Family

Prunellidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, black, yellow, grey

About the habitat

Breeds in dense spruce and mixed thickets, willow and birch scrub in mountains; in winter scrub, hedges and farmland edges.

Diet

Mainly insects and other small invertebrates; in winter also seeds and berries, picked from the ground and the base of bushes.

Behaviour

A quiet, skulking bird that keeps low in shrubs, hopping and picking food. It gives a fine “ti-ti-ti” call and a Dunnock-like, twittering song. It builds a neat nest low in spruce thickets, laying 3–5 unspotted blue eggs. In winter it may join mixed flocks.

Sources

Photo: Imran Shah from Islamabad, Pakistan, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-throated Accentor (Prunella atrogularis) (15275386173).jpg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-throated_accentor

See also