Fun Accentor Facts For Kids

Accentors are a genus of closely related passerines birds belonging to the old world family- Prunellidae. This genus was first discovered, or introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot, with the dunnock (Prunella modularis) as the type species, and the genus is called Prunella. Among all the birds in the Prunellidae family, the accentors are the only genus endemic to the Palearctic region, except the dunnock and the Japanese accentor, they live throughout the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia. Accentors are not migratory but temporarily leave the coldest regions of their range during winters, and live at lower elevations as it is the beginning of their breeding season. Accentors have about 13 species including alpine accentor (Prunella collaris), Siberian accentor (Prunella montanella), Altai accentor (Prunella himalayan), robin accentor (Prunella rubeculoides), hedge sparrow (Prunella modularis), brown accentor (Prunella fulvescens), Rufous-breasted accentor (Prunella strophiata), Radde accentor (Prunella ocularis), and others. This article will help you with everything you need to know about these birds!

Learn more about some other birds from our great black hawk facts and saffron finch facts pages.
 

What type of animal is an accentor?

The accentor is a bird belonging to the Animalia kingdom.

What class of animal does an accentor belong to?

An accentor bird belong to the Aves class.

How many accentor are there in the world?

Accentor birds are found in plenty throughout Europe and Asia.

Where does an accentor live?

The accentor bird ranges from Japan, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, to Spain, central and southern European regions.

What is an accentor's habitat?

Accentors inhabit mountainous regions across European and Asian countries. These birds live at high altitudes, to be specific they live above the tree line but below the snow line. However, the Himalayan accentor bird lives approximately 16,500 ft above sea level. They have excellent adaptability to various climatic conditions. During winters the mountainous regions inhabited by these have an extremely cold climate, which is not suitable for these birds, and therefore they temporarily migrate to a lower altitude, especially the Altai accentor (Prunella himalayana).

Who do accentor live with?

Accentors live together in pairs and often travel in flocks. Except for the dunnock, birds of this species are solitary and prefer living alone, they temporarily pair up during the breeding season.

How long does an accentor live?

The life span of this bird depends on their species, but typically these birds live up to five to seven years.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season and patterns differ according to the species. An alpine accentor (Prunella collaris) livse in small groups and is polygynandrous, meaning both sexes mate with multiple partners during the breeding season. The Alpha male bird prevents or defends females against mating with a low-ranked male bird. The Alpha male usually mates with all the female accentors present in a group. After the hatchlings are born, the true mother looks after them, whereas males provide food to every nest of the females they mated with. Mating among Dunnocks can be monogamous or polygynandrous, depending on the male and female's territory. In most species, both the male and female take equal part in building their nest, incubating, and taking care of the young chicks. The nest built by them are neat and well made. They lay about four to six eggs.The incubation period lasts about 13 days. These species live at high altitudes but migrate to lower ground levels to breed in scrub vegetation, especially during the winter season.

What is their conservation status?

The IUNC Red List of Threatened Species has classified accentors as species of Least Concern.

What do accentor look like?

An accentor is a small-sized bird that is often confused with a sparrow due to its striking resemblance. Every species has its distinctive characteristics, the few common factors include, sharp and thin bills, fairly rounded bodies, tiny circular eyes, most of which have brown feathers.

Here are the details about their physical appearances- the alpine accentor (Prunella collaris) is nearly the size of a robin, it has brown streaks on its back, a grey head, and reddish-brown spots on the lower parts of its body. Whereas an Altai accentor (Prunella himalayana) is grey and brown with orange streaks on its breast, its throat is white and has a black outline, they are quite similar to an alpine accentor (Prunella collaris) but darker and have more streaks. The brown accentor (Prunella fulvescens) is grey-brown, with a darker face, white lines above their eyes and stomach, their breast and throat have a soft orange or reddish wash. A hedge accentor or hedge sparrow (Prunella modularis), commonly known as dunnock, is brownish with a grey head and streaks on its back. The accentor from Japan (Prunella rubida), is uniform brown, with streaks on the upper parts of its body, a grey breast, fine white lines on its face, and vivid red irises. The Radde's accentor (Prunella ocularis) is ash grey to almost black, slightly streaked around its neck and above the eyes, with a pale white stomach. The robin accentor (Prunella rubeculoides), is greyish-black, with an orange breast, white belly, and few streaks to none. The rufous-breasted accentor (Prunella strophiata) has a bright orange breast that contrasts its white throat and brown streaks on its back. A Siberian accentor (Prunella montanella) has a soft yellow wash with a grey nape and buffy brows. In most species, both sexes look similar to each other.

How cute are they?

Accentor birds are some of the cutest birds around! Their colors, fluffy appearance, and beautiful eyes make them remarkably cute. Accentor bird wings are pointy and their bodies are small, giving them an adorable charm.

How do they communicate?

Accentor birds communicate via vocalizations and sometimes use body language. The vocal sounds produced by them are categorized into two types i.e. songs and calls. They have an impressive vocal repertoire and use a variety of sounds to communicate with members of their flock, potential mates, and young chicks. During the mating season, the accentor produces 'companion calls', which communicate its reproductive condition and readiness to mate. Males often dance, strut, or perform various acts to attract and impress the females nearby. Accentors also have alarm calls to alert the flock about predators or any sort of danger. Using calls of different tones and pitch helps them smoothly communicate, track their flock, locate food, avoid predators, find mating partners, and defend their territories. A song is the longer, refined and sweeter version of a call. The song and a call are differentiated based on how they sound.

How big is an accentor?

Accentors have about 13 different species but they all grow up to the same size i.e. 5.5-7 in (14-18 cm) in height. Accentor birds egg is smaller and weighs almost negligible.

How fast can an accentor fly?

The standard flying speed of this bird is approximately 28.5 mph (46 kph). An accentor has quick reflexes as well.

How much does an accentor weigh?

An accentor weight ranges from 0.8-1.2 oz (25-35 g). Both sexes weigh the same.

What are the male and female names of the species?

Accentors do not have separate names for their male and female species. They are simply denoted as males and females.

What would you call a baby accentor?

A baby accentor is called a chick.

What do they eat?

As they are omnivores they eat anything that is bite-size including ants, crickets, earthworms, berries, seeds, and other small fruits insects and invertebrates.

Predatory birds like the peregrine falcon prey on them.

Are they dangerous?

No, these birds are not dangerous and do not cause any harm to humans. They are shy, and often maintain their distance. Some of them may warm up to you, once they rule you out as a predator or a threat.

Would they make a good pet?

These birds are very shy and scare easily so if you decide to keep them as pets, make sure you keep them in a pair at least, as they are not solitary and require the company of others. If you do not want to keep a pair, we recommend the dunnock or hedge sparrow accentors, as they prefer living alone. Looking after them is easy as their needs are less. Their diet is simple and made up of worms, insects, food grains, and fruit seeds. We suggest you keep them in a birdhouse outside your house rather than caged up inside, this will give it freedom and will help build its trust towards you. It may fly away temporarily but, will always come back to its nest, or home.

Did you know...

The dunnock population size has been decreasing rapidly and is struggling to recover from it due to the changes in the bird’s natural habitat.

The alpine accentor (Prunella collaris), along with the Altai accentor is sometimes separated from the other accentors, into the genus Laiscopus.

Accentor bird eggs are unspotted pale blue or green.

How many eggs do accentor lay?

Accentor birds lay about four to six eggs. Most of them are polygynandrous, meaning an individual bird has several mating partners.

Do accentor migrate?

Yes, they do but only when winter arrives. They migrate from high altitudes to lower ground level locations.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these nicobar pigeon facts or coal tit facts.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable accentor coloring pages.