The accentors are a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s in the family Prunellidae, which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

. This small group of closely related

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

s are all in the genus ''Prunella''. All but the

dunnock The dunnock (''Prunella modularis'') is a small passerine, or perching bird, found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. Dunnocks have also been successfully introduced into New Zealand. It is the most widespread member of the acce ...

and the

Japanese accentor The Japanese accentor (''Prunella rubida'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in Japan and Sakhalin. Its natural habitat is temperate forest A temperate forest is a forest found between the tropical and boreal regio ...

are inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia; these two also occur in lowland areas, as does the

Siberian accentor The Siberian accentor (''Prunella montanella'') is a small passerine bird that breeds in northern Russia from the Ural Mountains eastwards across Siberia. It is bird migration, migratory, wintering in Korea and eastern China, with rare occurrenc ...

in the far north of Siberia. These birds are not strongly migratory, but they will leave the coldest parts of their range in winter and make altitudinal movements.

Taxonomy and etymology

The genus ''Prunella'' was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1816 with the

(''Prunella modularis'') as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. Although the genus is usually used for all the accentors, the

alpine accentor The alpine accentor (''Prunella collaris'') is a small passerine bird in the family Prunellidae, which is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Taxonomy The Alpine accentor was described by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 176 ...

and

Altai accentor The Altai accentor (''Prunella himalayana'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is also known as the rufous-streaked accentor or Himalayan accentor. It breeds in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia; it winters in the southern ...

are sometimes separated into the genus ''Laiscopus''. Harrison used the group name dunnock for all of the species, not just ''Prunella modularis'' (thus e.g. Japanese dunnock for ''P. rubida''); this usage is based on the oldest known name for any of the species (old English ''dun''-, brown, + -''ock'', small: "little brown bird"
Chambers Dictionary
'). ''Accentor'' derives from the old scientific name for the Alpine accentor (''Accentor collaris''). It comes from

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

, meaning "sing with another" (ad + cantor). The genus name ''Prunella'' is from the German ''Braunelle'', "dunnock", a diminutive of ''braun'', "brown".

Description

These are small, fairly drab species superficially similar, but not closely related to, sparrows. They are 14 to 18 cm in length, and weigh between 25 and 35 g. However, accentors have thin sharp bills, reflecting their diet of ground-dwelling insects in summer, augmented with small seeds and berries in winter. They may also swallow grit and sand to help their stomach break up these seeds. Most of the species live together in flocks. The dunnock is an exception since it prefers to be solitary except when feeding. The dunnock also earned a nickname of "shuffle-wing" since it most strongly displays the characteristic wing flicks used during courtship and other displays. Accentors may have one to three broods a year. Courtship consists of a great deal of song from the males, which may include short lark-like song flights to attract a mate. In most species, the male and female share in the nest making, with the dunnocks again being an exception; their males have no part in nest building or incubation. They build neat cup nests and lay 3–6 unspotted green or blue eggs. The eggs are incubated for around 12 days. The young are fed by both parents and take an additional 12 days or so to fledge.

Habitat

Their typical habitat is mountainous regions in an area far above the tree-line, but below the

snow-line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

. The

Alpine accentor The alpine accentor (''Prunella collaris'') is a small passerine bird in the family Prunellidae, which is native to Eurasia and North Africa. Taxonomy The Alpine accentor was described by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 176 ...

has been observed at nearly altitude in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

and the Altai and

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

accentors at ; however, most accentors breed in scrub vegetation at lower levels. Most species are altitudinal migrants, descending to lower altitudes to spend the winter, but some are long-distance migrants, most notably the

, which migrates 3,000–5,000 km from northern Siberia to China and Korea. Accentors spend the majority of their time in the

undergrowth In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but above ...

and even when flushed, stay low to the ground until reaching cover.

Species list

Twelve species are currently accepted: *

''Prunella collaris'' *

''Prunella himalayana'' *

Robin accentor The robin accentor (''Prunella rubeculoides'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and China, at altitudes between about . It is a brown bird with ...

''Prunella rubeculoides'' *

Rufous-breasted accentor The rufous-breasted accentor (''Prunella strophiata'') is passerine bird in the family Prunellidae, endemic to the Himalayas, descending in the winter to lower-to-middle altitudes. It is found in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Tibet, China, India, Myanmar ...

''Prunella strophiata'' *

''Prunella montanella'' *

Brown accentor The brown accentor (''Prunella fulvescens'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Their natural habitat ...

''Prunella fulvescens'' *

Radde's accentor Radde's accentor (''Prunella ocularis'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in mountainous parts of Yemen and northern Southwest Asia. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland. Taxonomy Radde's accentor was describe ...

''Prunella ocularis'' (includes the formerly accepted Arabian accentor ''Prunella fagani'', lumped in 2018) *

Black-throated accentor The black-throated accentor (''Prunella atrogularis'') is a small passerine bird found in the Ural, Tian Shan and Altai Mountains. It is migratory, wintering in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. It is a rare vagrant in western Europe. ...

''Prunella atrogularis'' *

Kozlov's accentor Kozlov's accentor (''Prunella koslowi'') or the Mongolian accentor, is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in Mongolia and northern China. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the Russian explorer Pyotr Kozlov Pyotr ...

''Prunella koslowi'' *

Dunnock The dunnock (''Prunella modularis'') is a small passerine, or perching bird, found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. Dunnocks have also been successfully introduced into New Zealand. It is the most widespread member of the acce ...

''Prunella modularis'' *

''Prunella rubida'' *

Maroon-backed accentor The maroon-backed accentor (''Prunella immaculata'') is a species of bird in the family Prunellidae. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is temperate forest A temperate forest is a forest found betwee ...

''Prunella immaculata''

References

External links

Accentor videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q3924795 Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot